| Description: | Ed Michael Reggie - Building the Future |
| Text of article: | ED MICHAEL REGGIE '71 Building the Future Ed Michael Reggie '71 recognizes the importance of properly preparing for and keeping an eye on the future. In fact, when he founded a private equity development company in 2004, he included that concept in the name of the company: Future Factory. At the same time, Ed Michael is keenly aware of the role that the past plays in future success; his experience at Williston Academy and his current work with Future Factory are certainly proof of that. After earning his M.B.A. from Tulane, Ed Michael went into banking and eventually became a commercial bank president. During his time in banking, Ed Michael's interest turned to health care and he served as C.E.O. of Regent Health System, a rural hospital chain. His work with Future Factory is a combination of these two main career paths, banking and health care. Future Factory specializes in assisting emerging small companies as they tackle the challenges of managing a new business enterprise, and it invests in startups and new ventures that focus on healthcare, technology, and the food services industries. In deciding which companies to fund, Ed Michael relies heavily on his past to build businesses that will succeed in the future. Williston plays a prominent role in Ed Michael's past, present, and future. In recalling his experience as a Williston student, he says, "it was without a doubt the most important academic time of my life." He credits his teachers and the school's environment for giving him a "jump start" in life. "I grew up in the rural South and had never been exposed to the type of academics or the cosmopolitan atmosphere I found at Williston," he says. As a result, "I just have a great attachment to Williston. I never lost that attachment from the day I graduated." That attachment has manifested itself most notably in ten years of service on Williston's Board of Trustees, from 1988 to 1998. During his time on the board, Ed Michael served mostly as Treasurer and in that role was instrumental in arranging the necessary financing to build the athletics center, a project that included the first bond issuance in the school's history. "We thought about it very hard," Ed Michael says. "The school needed to be more marketable and the gymnasium facility was outdated. We thought we could raise the capital by going into debt. We were successful in doing that." Ed Michael is once again using his past experience to help make Williston's future more secure by funding the Ed Michael Reggie '71 Scholarship, designed to give preference to students from the South. "The richness of the Williston experience, especially for someone like me who was boarding, was in the geographic and cultural diversity I saw among the students. That's why I've funded this scholarship. I want Williston to continue to have a diverse student body, and I want kids from the South to get a superior education." The first Ed Michael Reggie '71 Scholarship will be awarded in 2009. As a student, alumnus, and Board Treasurer, Ed Michael has long recognized the importance of supporting Williston. "Williston is a tuition-driven school," he explains. "It does not have an adequate endowment compared to its competitors. It needs our support." He knows that alumni support will go a long way towards securing Williston's future, and the roots of that support are secured in the past. "I feel that my support to the school is a small way of giving back to the school what it gave me." "I just have a great attachment to Williston. I never lost that attachment from the day I graduated." 1971 photograph of Ed Michael from the Williston Academy Log |
Newspaper Clippings 
