Charles Nailen/The Hoya Christine Werner (MSB ’05) will take the helm at The Corp hoping to build off of a string of successes over the past few years.
Students of Georgetown, Inc., popularly known as the Corp, recently announced the election of its three new top officers for the year 2004.
Christine Werner (MSB ’05) will succeed Kelsey Shannon (COL ’04) as the Corp’s president and CEO. Brian cGovern (COL ’05) will replace Kathleen Klaben (MSB ’04) as chief financial officer and Keith McNamara (MSB ’06) will fill the chief operating officer post replacing Peter Faulhaber (COL ’04), according to a statement released last Friday.
“This past year’s [Upper Management] and officers have done a great job and I hope to carry on their work ethic, professionalism and dedication,” Werner said. “The employees of the Corp really do care about what they are doing and that is why the Corp has been so successful and has such a presence on [the] Georgetown campus.”
Werner said that her main goals would be a series of internal evaluations to increase efficiency and the acquisition of a space in the recently renovated New South lounge area.
“We are incredibly lucky to be leaving the Corp in exceptionally capable hands,” Shannon said. “I have been fortunate to work with Christine Werner when she worked with me on the Upper Management at Vittles and later when she served on the Corp Upper Management while I was president. She is a strong leader, a wonderful person and perfectly equipped to lead the Corp through the challenges and opportunities of the coming year.”
The Corp is the largest student-owned-and-operated corporation in the world, with over $3 million in annual revenue and over 200 employees. It operates such Georgetown landmarks as Vital Vittles, ovie Mayhem, Uncommon Grounds, the Book Co-op, and the summer Shipping and Storage service.
But the Corp has also faced its share of financial difficulties.
In December, Shannon announced that Full Exposure, the Corp’s photo developing store, would close due to decreasing demand and declining revenues afflicting the photo development industry. Full Exposure will remain open until the end of the current semester.
“The closure of Full Exposure will be an obstacle,” Werner said. She hopes to integrate the store’s services into the Corp’s other facilities in the near future.
The Corp has also faced economic losses, losing a net total of nearly $20,000, according to the Corp’s latest annual report. But these shortfalls have shrunk dramatically in recent months, due largely, Corp management says, to increasing levels of efficiency.
“The hard work of all Corp employees has helped us come close to our goal of posting a profit without service suffering, but making this happen has and will continue to require a very delicate balance,” McGovern said. “Our commitment will always be to serve students, but to function as a business, even as a non-profit one, we cannot continue to post losses.”
The Corp has recently undergone a significant internal reorganization, eliminating the vice president position which had served as an intermediary between the Corp’s top management and the individual stores. Store managers now fill the vacancies in the Upper Management, as part of an effort to create a stronger relationship between Corp leaders and the stores themselves.
The Corp, which has opened four new operations in the past five years, is also eager to acquire a space in the renovated New South lounge, which will formally open for interim use this Tuesday. “A major project for the upcoming year will be to secure a space in New South,” Werner said. “I think that is a great opportunity for us, and we have some great ideas to fill the space.”
The new officers were elected by the Corp Upper Management and Board of Directors. Additionally, new directors will be announced for each of the Corp’s 13 departments and shops in the coming weeks, according to a press release.
A new Board of Directors, consisting of Werner, McGovern and cNamara as well as four Georgetown students without previous Corp experience, will be named at the beginning of March. Those interested in the four unpaid positions, which help Corp leaders to keep the pulse of the student body, may apply at Vital Vittles during the last week of February.
The Corp’s 2003 officers leave the Corp in its strongest financial and organizational position in several years, Shannon said, but their departure is not without regrets.
“Everyone who I work with, from the cashiers and grinders on up to the Upper Management are fantastic people who are fun to work with,” said Faulhaber. “Where else can you run a store at age 19? Or an entire company at age 21? The opportunities that are here are amazing and I wouldn’t change anything about my time here.”