SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- John MacDougall, president and CEO of Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes Inc., will be the guest speaker today when the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University holds its inaugural event to celebrate the opening of the Goodman Leadership Center.
MacDougall will also spend the afternoon with a panel of Whitman student leaders, sharing his principles of employee development and leadership.
Under the direction of MacDougall, Canastota, N.Y.-based Nice N Easy has grown to more than 80 locations across upstate New York and has been heralded as [image-nocss] a leader in the convenience retailing and foodservice industry. The retailer just celebrated its 30th anniversary. (Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage of the chain.)
MacDougall hails from Cleveland. After college, he joined the Bruthers Co. as an account representative. Five years later, he accepted the director of operations position with a chain of convenience stores in Upstate New York. He later became a partner and led the company for nine years before opening Nice N Easy. MacDougall helped form the New York Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS) and was a member of its board for six years. He has been inducted into three industry Halls of Fame. And he has received the Citizenship Award from the Canastota American Legion.
No stranger to sharing his expertise in a higher-education environment, MacDougall has also participated in The NACS Leadership Executive Program at Cornell University, which assists senior executives in attaining the leadership skills needed to successfully respond to the challenges of a competitive marketplace.
"The Goodman Leadership Center's mission is to provide Whitman undergraduate students with opportunities to learn and practice core leadership skills," said Don Cardarelli, assistant professor of management practice at Whitman and director of the Goodman Leadership Center. "Because of MacDougall's demonstrated success in both leadership and entrepreneurship, he is an exemplary speaker for the launch of our new center. Whitman is honored to have him as a guest for this event."
The Goodman Center will guide students to be more effective and productive, focusing on early career readiness; activities will be focused on student preparation, practice and ethical awareness. It is named in honor of former president and COO of Forest Labs, Ken Goodman, who helped transform Forest Labs into one of the fastest-growing drug and technology companies today. Goodman retired in 2006, but currently sits on the board of the company, as well as the boards of the Whitman School Advisory Council and Syracuse University Board of Trustees, where he chairs the budget committee.
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