A Message From Tom Portlock

Hello everybody,

Spring is the season of new beginnings. It is known as “the season of hope” because it symbolizes the resurgence of life after the inevitable challenges of winter. There’s something to be said for spring with its new life, warmer weather, and flowers and trees coming into leaf. This rising energy generally helps us feel more optimistic and driven to make the most out of our days. In the spirit of new beginnings, my wife, Janice, and I just adopted a pair of Bernedoodle puppies, Guinness and Stout, after being pet-less for the past year and a half. We’re getting back into the swing of things and adjusting to new routines, but we are enjoying the pitter-patter of little paws in the house again.

While I hope you all feel this renewed energy in your personal lives as well, I hope you also bring a heightened energy to your work. We owe it to ourselves and our customers to give 100% every day to everything we do. After all, Commitment is one of our Core Values and is a common trait of our 2023 Core Value Awards finalists, Leah Pfeifle, Judy Poli, and Don Stevens, who are showcased in the “News & Awards” section in this issue of The Journey.

I’d also say commitment is something Dan Clinger from our Aviation Group brings to his volunteer efforts with wear blue, a 501(c)3 organization that honors the service and sacrifice of the American military. You can read about Dan’s volunteer work in “Behind the Scenes.” In recognition of Dan’s efforts, Odyssey will be donating $2,500 to wear blue as part of the company’s new philanthropic program. While we continue to enhance our charitable giving philosophy, we are looking for employees interested in helping to shape the program, identify worthy charities and create an employee-match program. If you are interested in serving on this committee, please reach out to me directly via email (thomasportlock@odysseyconsult.com).

As I’ve said to you all many times before, Odyssey is a company made up of extremely talented individuals, diversified in their expertise yet similarly focused on the success of their mission. We are a company 1200-strong spread across 43 states and three countries. We are Odyssey! We are driven to excel, and we strive to do what’s right for our customers and to take care of each other.

In the pages that follow, I hope you enjoy reading about some of the programs we support and the accomplishments of your co-workers. I hope you like the personal profiles of Jackie VanderWoude and Mike Magerman, and enjoy a new feature that profiles one of our up-and-coming leaders, Brian Cantrell, in “Movin’ on up.” These articles merely touch upon the greatness of our people.

Thank you all for your continued support, for the work you do day in and day out to serve our customers, and for being who you are. For you make Odyssey the company it is today and what it will be going forward!

All my best,

Tom Portlock
Chief Executive Officer