[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 21]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 30814]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              A TRIBUTE TO BILL SHIVELY ON HIS RETIREMENT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JIM RAMSTAD

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 17, 1999

  Mr. RAMSTAD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to one of our 
nation's best and brightest business leaders.
  By any measure of merit, William C. Shively, is a truly visionary 
business leader. His hard work and pioneering efforts in the area of 
financial management and commitment to public service are absolutely 
exemplary--as well as an inspiration to us all.
  Mr. Speaker, Bill Shively is retiring as Executive Vice President of 
the nationally recognized Gelco Information Network in my Third 
District of Minnesota.
  Bill had the vision in 1992 to bring corporate America's soundest 
financial management practices to the federal government. In his book 
Best Practices, Bill Shively identified areas for immediate improvement 
and re-engineering. He targeted official business travel within 
government since, in the corporate world, travel is the third largest 
business expense behind payroll and data processing.
  Mr. Speaker, in 1995 the federal government was spending over $7 
billion on official business travel. Mr. Shively realized the 
government was spending unnecessary overhead based on the outdated 
business processes that governed federal travel.
  The need for improvement in this arena, Mr. Speaker, was the source 
for Bill's vision to create a business unit dedicated to identifying 
improvements and recommending solutions to save taxpayer money. The 
vision's underlying theme was to save taxpayer money through the 
implementation of re-engineered systems and processes.
  Mr. Speaker, the Government Services Division of Gelco was born on 
March 1, 1995 and was comprised of Bill and one other employee. Since 
1995, the business has grown to close to 100 employees, supporting 
products and services utilized today within every single federal 
executive agency within our government.
  Bill helped the Department of Defense through the evolutionary stages 
of defining its vision, leading to one of the largest non-weapon 
procurements--DTS.
  Mr. Speaker, Bill Shively leaves a legacy of public service that will 
be long remembered. But, more important to Bill, he leaves a legacy to 
that is sure to inspire his family for generations to come. Despite the 
impact of his visionary actions around the world, Bill Shively's No. 1 
priority has been his family. Bill has been a dedicated father of three 
sons and a devoted husband to his wife, Betty.
  Mr. Speaker, Bill Shively has done much for his country. We must take 
the time to pay tribute to great Americans like Bill, citizens who 
share their special skills to make outstanding contributions to their 
nation. Bill Shively may be retiring, but he has improved federal 
processes and driven down costs to taxpayer--truly lasting 
contributions that will benefit our country for generations to come.
  At a time when good role models are few and far between, a time when 
people of integrity are needed more than ever, Bill Shively is a 
shining example of how to achieve success in our personal, professional 
and public lives.
  Mr. Speaker, please join with me today to honor William Shively for 
all he has done to help others. We wish him and his family all the best 
in his retirement and in all his future endeavors.

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