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Michael Fox ’86 to run our corporate communications division. Don Duffy
became our president, father of Dean ’11, Dylan ’13, and Dale ’16, and
we briefly hired the daughter-in-law of legendary Prep teacher Ed Rowe.
ICR needed a loan so we called Rich Cummings, a Prep parent of Ryan ’99
and Terry ’00, at Westport National Bank, and Bob Baptist ’82 runs all our
401K investing. And finally, one of our lead attorneys is John Flaherty ’80.
This team, who we trust implicitly, allows us to sleep at night, pure
and simple.
The question of values at ICR was never more important, however,
than from late 2008 thru the end of 2010. That period really defined ICR as
a company and certainly tested our faith individually.
In mid November 2008 I was taking the train back from Grand Central
with John Flanagan, who told me his stomach had been bothering him,
and he was set to see a doctor that week. I didn’t think much of it
because we were talking about ICR and clients and our families, sharing
a couple of Fosters Oil cans. John looked like a million bucks at the time
but unfortunately he was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer the
next week—Thanksgiving week—and died 30 days later on Christmas
Eve. I had always thought your worst case scenario was having the doctor
say that you had 6 months—but John, unfairly didn’t even get that. No
time really to say goodbye to his 7, 5 and 2 year old. No time to really do
anything. It was devastating.
At John’s funeral, Chad and I gave part of the eulogy and I noticed that
Chad looked thinner than usual. He had been in Honduras at a client’s
manufacturing facility the month before, and we all thought he had a
parasite or a virus. Unfortunately, just six weeks after John’s death, Chad
was diagnosed with stomach cancer and died 18 months later in June of
2010. He was my best friend.
And if this whole story weren’t unbelievable enough, our President
Don Duffy and his wife Dana, received a summer 2010 diagnosis that
Dana had lung cancer and she lost her battle a few months later in
December of that year, leaving Don with a senior and sophomore at Prep,
and two younger boys.
That’s three key members of the ICR family and three close friends in
24 months.
Equally as devastating was that this all happened while the economy
went off a cliff, and 20% of our revenues evaporated, almost overnight.
So how did we respond? Our entire company pulled together during
this time in a way that I felt was very unique, in line with the values I
mentioned earlier. I’ve come to learn that Fairfield Prep’s values permeate
our corporate culture and that’s how we survived.
We started by quickly moving to protect the business at all costs
because it was our livelihood. We tried to stay focused and started cutting
costs without sacrificing any expense that would compromise the client
experience. Second, we hired a CFO to analyze the health of the business
and the metrics we are measured by. And while we tried to mitigate the
damage from the credit crunch and deep recession, we simultaneously
had to throw 100% support to Chad, John, and Don’s family as best we
could. We checked insurance policies.
Thankfully, John’s cousin John Phelan ’84, set us up early on with
equity buyout policies in the case one of us passed away. We sat in the
room in 2002, complained about the premiums we would have to pay and
laughed as we signed the papers because certainly nothing would happen
to us. But those policies ended up buying out John and Chad’s equity
in ICR—with proceeds going to their families. As a relatively small and
growing company we would have never been able to fund that. Key takeaway…make
sure you have more insurance than you think you will ever
need.
We took the key main life insurance money, meant for ICR, to ease
the burden of losing two revenue producers, and we transferred it to the
families for education. We started a foundation both for John and for Chad
so their wives, kids, friends, and the rest of ICR has that chance to keep
them alive in their hearts. We assembled a board of directors for each
foundation and started fundraising. We also established, funded, and will
continue to fund a Prep Scholarship in both Chad and John’s name and
finally, and maybe most impactful, we made the Margarita the official
drink of our company.
So the reason I mentioned all this is definitely not for credit or
acknowledgement for me or for ICR. In fact, the first time I have ever
told this story is today. But I decided to tell it because Chad, John and I,
with the help of our Prep connections and friends, created a great little
company that’s not so little anymore. It’s an entrepreneurial success story
but I think it’s more of a life success story, one that’s deeply rooted in Prep
values. I think it highlights how people with similar vision, drive, trust
and a lot of teamwork can overcome anything. And I’m happy to report
that much like busting out of the locker room and onto Alumni Field after
a Fr. Brissette Mass and an Earl Lavery ’50 speech, since our depths of
despair in 2009, our revenues are up almost 100%, and in 2010 we reached
our goal of being the largest independent financial communications firm
in North America as measured by size. I wish John, Chad, and Dana could
have seen that, but deep down I know they are cheering us on.
Prep Goes to Boston
F
airfield Prep visited Boston April 3-5 for three great alumni events. The Boston
Business Breakfast featured guest speaker Tom Ryan ’82, CEO of Integrated
Corporate Relations (ICR). Tom’s story gave the inspirational message of being “Men
for Others,” and sustaining Prep values through the hardest of times. Additionally,
the Prep alumni office hosted pizza lunches at Boston College and Holy Cross
offering Prep graduates currently attending those schools a chance to relax and
hear about the latest happenings from campus.
Prep Today 43