Parthenis Named Chairman of Strategy and Planning Committee
Peter P. Parthenis of Inverness, IL was appointed Chairman of the newly-formed Strategy and Planning Committee by Stephen G. Yeonas, Leadership 100 Chairman. The new committee will develop a five-year strategic plan for the institutional advancement of Leadership 100 in all areas, including membership growth, finances, organization and management and communications.
Parthenis, who was born in Vonitsa, in Roumeli, Greece, came to Chicago in 1964 after graduating from high school. After arriving in Chicago, he attended the University of Illinois from 1965-1969, graduating with a degree in Communications Engineering Science, continuing with Masters studies in Engineering/Automation from 1969-1971. While in Graduate School he met his wife, Ethel. They reside in Inverness, a suburb of Chicago, with their two daughters Stacy and Tina and their son Peter Jr.
As President/CEO and then Chairman of the Board of Grecian Delight Foods, Inc. in Elk Grove Village, IL, a manufacturer and marketer of top quality Mediterranean and Ethnic foods for the Foodservice and Retail markets which he founded in 1974, he shaped the explosion of a vital food segment - Mediterranean Foods.
He began his business career as Design Engineer for Robotics at Harshaw Equipment Company in Elk Grove Village and subsequently became a manufacturer of the vertical broiler for gyros meat, the Autodoner®, at Optimal Automatics Corporation in Chicago, still a leader in the field and at which he remains an active board member and partner. His first business venture was designing and building automatic car washes for Greece. He is an investor and board member of Permacor Corporation in Oak Lawn, IL and served as Director of the Advisory Board of United Food Service Company in Elk Grove Village.
Among his numerous civic, philanthropic activities, are membership in Vistage, an international organization of presidents and CEOs, President and board member of the Scleroderma Foundation in Boston, MA, a non profit organization that educates and supports patients and their families about the disease of scleroderma (hardening of skin) as well as raising funds for research in finding a cure, Board Member of the United Hellenic American Congress in Chicago, member and scholarship sponsor for Hellenic Link- Midwest, Executive Vice President and Board Member of the Hellenic Museum & Cultural Center in Chicago, Board Member and Development Officer of the Foundation of Hellenic Studies in Chicago, Board Member of the Elgin Academy, a private college prep school located in Elgin, IL.
Parthenis is a former member of the parish council of St. Nectarios Greek Orthodox Church in Palatine, IL, an Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle, and a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
