Veteran Entrepreneur Says The Best Teacher Is Experience

Exorbitant student loans constitute just one reason why young people eager to experience the world may want to reconsider college, says Ed Basler, a veteran entrepreneur.

There is now $1.2 trillion worth of college debt in the United States and the average borrower will graduate $26,600 in the red, according to The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS) Project on Student Debt.

"None of this guarantees a job or even that a college grad will be job-ready," says Basler, CEO of E.J. Basler Co., (www.ejbasler.com).

"After four weeks of business school I, the son of a businessman, had realized that the professor had no real-life experience running a business and that I wouldn't learn the practical principles necessary to succeed. But I stuck with business school for two years until I dropped out, and I haven't had any regrets 40 years later. Hands-on experience trumps a degree all the time."

Factor in the fact that necessary business skills evolve faster than the time it takes to earn a degree and the overall lack of preparation for the real world provided by college and the choice to save time and money is a no-brainer, says Basler.

Business owners and hiring managers should see past the college degrees of potential employees, or lack thereof, and focus on the content of an applicant's skills and character, says Basler, who offers, in his own words, the following tips for hiring.

•  Do not accept any bad attitudes. A bad attitude spreads like the flu, and if you don't stop it, it'll make your whole team sick. Good attitudes will spread too, so look to hire people with a positive nature. Is the prospective hire full of complaints about previous employers? Don't be surprised if you become the next target of such whining. No one is indispensable. I have interviewed people who were clearly bright and skilled. Yet, afterward, I felt like telling them not to let the door hit them on the way out. I've never regretted my decision to insist on good attitudes.

•  Hire friends very cautiously. They can become your best employees. Often, however, they are your worst, and they're hard to fire. Hire family members even more cautiously. Let them know the ground rules and expectations up front. And treat them like the rest of your employees. I hear horror stories all the time from business people who are suffering because of family involvement. But it can also work very well - it has worked out well for me.

•  Hire not only for skills but also for potential. Leaders can be made if trained and motivated properly. I've seen many a young person with no previous experience or knowledge of my business learn a trade or skill and prosper and excel. Many times, it's even an advantage to start from the beginning with someone who does not have the baggage of bad habits or practices from a previous employer.

•  Put people in the right positions. Test them for their personality and skill sets. There are many tests - one good one is the Meyers Briggs and the DISC profile. It's hard, sometimes, to understand where people fit, which is why we try to use testing to learn about their particular skills.

"A college degree is a generic qualification and is by no means the ultimate criteria by which you should hire talent," Basler says.

About Ed Basler

Ed Basler is a longtime entrepreneur and CEO of E.J. Basler Co., (www.ejbasler.com), which provides precision-machined parts and solutions to companies worldwide. He is a sought-after motivational speaker and president of Fresh Eyes Coaching, a firm that helps small businesses identify profit opportunities and obstacles. Ed and his wife, Cathi, also founded and ran a nationally recognized not-for-profit youth organization for 15 years. He is the author of "The Meat & Potatoes Guide to Business Survival: A Handbook for Non-MBA's & College Dropouts."

SPRINGFIELD -- As Illinois celebrates the 206^th birthday of Abraham Lincoln, Governor Bruce Rauner today announced this year's recipients of the Order of Lincoln, which is the state's highest honor for professional achievement and public service.

"This year's recipients of the Order of Lincoln have helped make Illinois and the world a better place," Gov. Rauner said. "The work they have accomplished is admirable, and it is our privilege to honor them. Mr. Lincoln would be proud."

This year's recipients are:

Arthur H. Bunn, CEO of Bunn-O-Matic Corporation

Bunn is a civic and philanthropic leader in Springfield; and a member of one of Illinois' pioneer families, whose great-great-grandfather opened a grocery store in Springfield 170 years ago, with Abraham Lincoln as one of his first customers.

Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme

Cousin heads the world's largest humanitarian organization, serving 97 million beneficiaries in 80 countries. "My mission is simple," she has said, "to end hunger in my lifetime."

J. Roland Folse, surgeon and founding chairman of the Department of Surgery at the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. 

Dr. Folse served on SIU-School of Medicine's faculty for more than 30 years, and the Folse Endowed Chair of Surgery has been established in his honor.

Sara Vaughn Gabbard, nationally recognized Lincoln Scholar and Executive Director of the Friends of the Lincoln Collection of Indiana

Gabbard, a native of Lincoln, is entrusted with a prized collection of Lincoln artifacts, and has devoted her professional career to increasing the nation's knowledge of Abraham Lincoln and the times in which he lived.

Gary Slutkin, Founder and Executive Director of Cure Violence

Dr. Slutkin's innovative program has worked to reduce shootings and killings, and Cure Violence now has 52 program sites in 23 U.S. cities and eight nations of the world. He is a professor of epidemiology and international health at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health, where he seeks to treat violence as he would seek to reverse epidemic disease outbreaks.

W. Russell Withers, Jr., Broadcaster - Posthumous Honor

The award will also be presented posthumously to one of the last of a vanishing breed of broadcasting pioneers, the Founder of Withers Broadcasting Companies which operates six television stations and 30 radio stations in Illinois and across the Midwest. Prior to his death, Mr. Withers provided leadership to a wide range of civic, professional and charitable organizations including his chairmanship over many years of the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation.

The Order of Lincoln will be presented at the 51^st Annual Convocation of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois in the chamber of the Illinois House of Representatives in Springfield on Saturday, May 9, 2015. The Order of Lincoln was established by the Governor of Illinois in 1965, and the Lincoln Academy of Illinois -- an independent, non-partisan organization -- was created to administer the award and to choose the annual award recipients.

Following the award presentation on May 9, 2015 a gala reception and dinner in honor of the 2015 recipients will be held at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield. Funds raised at the dinner will be used to provide Abraham Lincoln Civic Engagement Scholarships to one student from each of the 56 four-year colleges and universities in Illinois and one student representing the state's community colleges. The students are chosen by their college presidents on the basis of academic achievement and community service.

The ceremony and short interviews with the honorees will be converted into a PBS documentary to be shown on all PBS stations across Illinois later in the year.

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