Chris Guglielmo: Working Toward a Promising Future
By AMBER NEVILLE
Contributing Writer
DANIEL C. CAMERON for GTR Newspapers
Chris Guglielmo, co-crew leader of Tulsa’s Young Professional’s Ambassador Crew, is actively involved in all things Tulsa. Guglielmo is a native of Tulsa. He attended Tulsa Public Schools, is an alum of Booker T. Washington High School and went on to attend the University of Tulsa.
Guglielmo graduated from TU receiving a Bachelor’s in Science and Business Administration in Finance, a certification in Innovation and Product Development, a minor in Spanish and a place on the President’s and Dean’s Honor Roles.
Today Guglielmo can be found in midtown Tulsa working as a Business Intermediary for the Bluestem Resources Affiliated Group, a mergers and acquisitions and business brokerage firm where he works with privately held companies to confidentially bring them to the marketplace to be bought and sold. Bluestem has been in business over 20 years, having done transactions all over the country.
Guglielmo’s role as a Certified Business Intermediary is to see projects through the entire sale process from initial consultation, market evaluation/pricing opinion, or current market value of their business and the creation of a strategic and targeted plan to confidentially sell the company. However, there is much fragility in the marketing of a business that must be confidentially assessed in order to protect the assets and value of the business. It is also the ’s place to negotiate the transaction prices up until the point of closing, which can take months.
Guglielmo’s tenure with Bluestem will be five years in October. It was the suggestion of Bluestem in 2006 for Guglielmo to get involved with the Tulsa’s Young Professional’s Entrepreneurship Crew, now known as the Business Development Crew. Guglielmo’s original involvement was to help create a business incubator, a work still in progress, when he met Geoff Patterson of the Ambassador Crew.
Patterson, third generation of Patterson Realtors and current chair of the Ambassador Crew, asked Guglielmo to help him promote the Dive Team, a subcommittee of the Ambassador Crew in an effort to promote Tulsa to companies doing business in Tulsa and who were hiring young professionals and interns to encourage them to stay in Tulsa.
“The focus is to dive into the Tulsa environment and community through selling Tulsa and to make companies aware of the opportunities ros offers for young professionals still deciding where they want to live and because Tulsa has a lot to offer. People just need to know how great it is to be in Tulsa,” Guglielmo says. Past companies involved with the Dive Team include Williams Companies, Bank of Oklahoma, Nordam, SemGroup and to name a few.
In 2008, Guglielmo was asked by the Leadership Team of Tulsa’s Young Professionals to step in and co-chair with Patterson of the Ambassador Crew. “The goal as ambassadors has always been to welcome new members to the ros organization,” says Guglielmo. “Most people’s first experience is attending a ‘Pub Club’ and we recognize that it can be a daunting experience. We want people to feel welcome by engaging them and introducing them to the Leadership Team and others while discussing all the benefits of the organization. We have done this with a welcoming table at the Pub Clubs. This and the ‘Dive Team’ have been our main drives this year.” Future efforts of the Ambassador Crew are to expand the Dive Team reach to more companies hiring people who are new to Tulsa or new to their careers in general.
Having considered living and working somewhere else, Guglielmo studied at New York University’s School of Real Estate, focusing on a degree in Real Estate. However, he found that the idea of living in New York was further away from his more laid-back personality and hometown roots in Tulsa than he originally thought. He adds, “I love New York. It is where most of my family is. I’d pick that second but Tulsa?s my home.”
Guglielmo is also midstream in his courses but has taken time off. Additionally, he has founded a new research and development company, Forza Technologies, Forza, meaning ‘strength’ and ‘forge ahead’ in Italian, which is Guglielmo’s decent. The focus is research and development for companies specifically in the chemistry and nanotechnology industries.
Guglielmo also serves on several philanthropic and community boards, including the Downtown Kiwanis, the Newman Center at the University of Tulsa, Leadership Oklahoma, the Signature Symphony, Entrepreneurs of Tulsa, the Finance Council for the Diocese of Tulsa and he is termed as the co-President of the Catholic Young Adults of Tulsa, just to name a few.
When Guglielmo is not active in the Tulsa community, you will find him traveling. Guglielmo has traveled to Greece, Mexico, Italy, Sicily, Spain, Turkey and most recently, one of his favorites, Hawaii.
Editor’s Note: Tulsa-area leadership has been working hard over the past few years to keep young professional talent in the region. One organization that has been very effective with these efforts is Tulsa’s Young Professionals, known by its acronym “ros.” This is the sixth of the Newspapers monthly series spotlighting young Tulsa leadership. Greater Tulsa is fortunate to have young talent contributing to its betterment.
About ros
The Tulsa Young Professionals, or ‘ros’ is a group of diverse young professionals, whose typical ages range from 21-40, working together to showcase Tulsa as an excellent place to live, work and play. The mission of ros is to retain and attract young talent, while focusing on fostering Tulsa’s next generation of leadership. Membership is free. ros provides its members with opportunities to get in front of and build relationships with local community and business leaders. For more information or to become a member, visit www.typros.org.
Updated 07-20-2009
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