Meet Ric
Ric has been the Orange County Business Partner with REF since 2007. He is a global CEO Peer Group thought leader and hosts Orange County’s longest-running business talk show and podcast, Critical Mass Business Talk Show, which he launched in 2009. He is also an international keynote speaker and author of three Amazon best-selling business books.
Ric's REF peer groups are exclusively for privately held small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) headquartered in Orange County, CA. Helping them to dedicate time to strategically work on their businesses instead of always working in their businesses.
Ric is known for his unique ability to surround leaders with peers who will help them take their businesses to the next level of performance.
Ric is an independent director for two ESOP companies. He strongly believes in the differentiating quality of employee-owned companies and brings a wealth of knowledge to companies on the journey of employee ownership.
Ric's Story
Born and bred in a small coal mining and steel mill town in Western Pennsylvania, Ric moved to Orange County, California, after graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Pittsburgh. While in Southern California, he continued his education by attaining his MBA from Pepperdine University.
Ric’s first exposure to CEO Peer Groups® came while he was the President of Delphi Connections Systems, a global company with plants in the US, Mexico, and Asia. He joined a peer group to gain insight from the experiences of executives leading other manufacturing companies. Ric had an epiphany one day during a peer group meeting. He realized that he wanted to do for other executives what his peer group chair had done for him. At that moment, he resigned from his position at Delphi to become a peer group leader.
Today, Ric is the Business Partner for Orange County, California, with REF, a global community of business leaders comprising over 2,500 CEO members. Ric hosts Orange County’s longest-running business talk show, which he started in 2009. He is the author of three books and is an international keynote speaker.
Ric has been married to Debra Franzi since 1986. They have two adult children and three grandchildren. Ric and Debra are fortunate to spend quality time with their children and grandchildren since everyone lives in South Orange County, California. Ric and Debra enjoy attending outdoor concerts in the summer and traveling to different and distant locations in the US, Mexico, Europe, and Asia.
