EMP-42

	Donna Freiberger-Griffin EMP-42, husband Kevin, son Jack and the newest addition to the Griffin clan, Katie

Earl Furfine writes: "Hello EMP-42! It has been quite a year. My company, Cardinal Technologies Inc., celebrated its 10th anniversary. We now have more than 20 people on staff and three long-term contracts with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the Transportation Security Agency and the U.S. Census 2010 as subcontractors to IBM, Grant Thornton and Lockheed Martin respectively. The company was also selected to be a mentor-protégé firm in the Department of Homeland Security M-P Program, sponsored by IBM and based on the high-quality work we have provided on the U.S. Customs project. We expect our revenue to grow by more than 50 percent for the fifth year in a row. We were recently awarded both GSA IT Schedule 70 and MOBIS, and hope to land our first prime contract with DHS this year.

"I have completed my fifth year as a fund-raiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. This year, with the generous help of two of my study group members, John Prunkl and Michael Mills, I was the No. 3 fund-raiser of over 700 triathletes, coming in at just over $12,000! Speaking of triathlons, I am competing in my 25th race in May. What was a whim five years ago has turned into a fantastic hobby, and I have traveled all over the country racing. I am also teaching swimming to new triathletes. Lastly and maybe most exciting of all, I was selected to be an instructor at the new Drexel University iSchool. The school will provide an executive master's degree in science in information technology leadership at the end of the 20-month program. I am — no surprise to my classmates, I am sure — teaching the program and project management course in the first semester. I hope everyone is doing well and will look forward to a May golf outing with Michael Mills, John Prunkl, Tim McCaughey and Brian White in Atlanta.

Donna Freiberger-Griffin and her husband, Kevin, are excited to announce the arrival of Kathleen "Katie" Marie, who was born on Oct. 4. She weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces, and measured 20 inches. Katie joins brother Jack (2).

With great sadness, we learned of the passing of our friend and classmate Allen Menard. Allen passed away on Nov. 7 after a long battle with cancer. Allen was a wonderful person and will be missed terribly by all who knew him.

Michael Mills has been appointed president of the southeast division of Vulcan Materials Co. The southeast division is one of Vulcan's seven operating divisions and includes 35 operating plants in Georgia and South Carolina and approximately 1,000 employees. Michael's office will be in Atlanta. His family will be relocating to the area at the end of May.

John Prunkl was promoted to president of Primary Energy in Oak Brook, Ill. John helped start the company in 2001. The company owns and operates 13 cogeneration/recycled-energy power plants across the United States.

I also received an update on Mahesh Rao, who has been busy these past few years. Mahesh took a couple of companies through acquisitions and was traveling around the world. He is a strategic adviser at the senior leadership level to companies such as Cisco, Mitsubishi and Kaiser Permanente. Mahesh is also involved in philanthropic activities raising money for pediatric cancer. He is an avid nature photographer but has only recently begun to leverage this hobby to raise awareness and money for the pediatric cancer cause.