Lee Greif has engaged in many different careers throughout his life, none of which he recalls more fondly than his five year stint in politics. Although they were tumultuous and filled with some heavy tension, the early 1970s were an amazing time to be in the political arena and Greif is extremely appreciative that he could be a part of it. He was first hired in 1971 by Peter Peyser. Peyser was a congressman of New York who had recently won the election in New York’s congress race. Peyser chose Greif to be his chief of staff. This was a decision that he would not go on to regret as Grief would later go on to run two successful campaigns for his reelection.
Peter Peyser was an interesting and successful politician in his own right. Peyser was the republican congressman who represented the suburban Westchester County. Peyser was a close political associate of Nelson Rockefeller and the two were actually good friends. Many were the times that the two would develop policies together. Peyser’s connections with Rockefeller would give Grief the chance to work on many special and prestigious projects. He drew much attention from his superiors due to the excellent job he performed on them. The assignments may have been difficult, but it was nothing that Grief wasn’t able to accomplish.
Serving as chief of staff during the early 1970s meant there was a lot going on at the time that Greif could be a part of. One such event that he is particularly proud of was the dinner party held at the Whitehouse with President Nixon that he and three other congressman and their chiefs of staff took part in. Besides this were the many political briefings with Secretaries Of State and Secretaries Of Defense. Having worked during such a period of political conflict, he often had to defend some unpopular policies, especially since he served a Democrat during the war in Vietnam and a Republican during the Watergate scandal. There were two times specifically where he recalls having to defend some very unpopular policies put forth by his bosses and the president.
While acting as a chief of staff in Washington in the early 1970s, Lee Greif met Randee, the woman who became his first wife. When they met she was employed as a chief of staff for a senator of Missouri, Thomas Eagleton. Lee and Randee became good friends with Thomas Eagleton and they considered him to be a terrific guy and they often kept his company. Eagleton was a dedicated public servant, so having his support was a huge asset to Lee. Lee began to see him as a role model and major source of inspiration. Eagleton would later go on to run as Vice President on McGovern’s presidential campaign. The 5 years that Greif would spend in Washington as chief of staff for Peter Peyser was an important and fondly remembered time in his life. He would apply the knowledge he learned here to all the other challenges in this life.
September 24th, 2008
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General, Business, Education & Training
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Lee Greif has led an interesting life due to the many careers he has had. His first major career was in politics and began in the early 1970s. He was hired as a chief of staff by Peter Peyser, a republican congressman who had recently been elected. Greif was very successful in this position and remained there for five years. He was given many responsibilities in this position, and took a lot of knowledge and experience away from it. Even though being in office curing the Watergate scandal provided its fair share of challengers, he took from this period many fond memories such as having dinner with the President in the Whitehouse. He decided to leave politics and pursue his law practice which had been a dream of his for some time.
After a brief stint helping his Father in Law run his business, Greif began his career as a Real Estate developer. He went on to develop over 1 million square feet of Industrial Real Estate, own 4 Commercial nationally franchised hotels and build and own over 1,000 residential apartments.
He found and purchased Field Force Media Services in 2003. The business deals in electronic media transfer and distribution, and interesting concept that immediately intrigued Greif. The business has a huge customer base that includes people from all over the country. In case you’d like to visit the site, you can find it here: www.Fieldforceusa.com. He purchased his third business, Premier Marketing Incorporated in 2005. It is a publishing company for automotive and homebuilding corporate image books. Currently, it publishes about 150 books in a single year and has customers from every state in the United States of America. The website for this company is: www.Premieremarketinggroup.com. Finally, the fourth business in which he purchased is Pro Mail Services. He bought this business in 2007. This business provides direct mail, fulfillment, and warehousing to customers nationwide. You can learn more about it here: www.Promailservices.com.
Although he spends a great deal of time on each of his many business ventures, Greif considers the most important thing in his life to be spending time with his family. His family, consisting of his wife Amy and their three children, means the world to him and he is certain to make free time to spend with them whenever possible. Lee Greif will often participate in his children’s athletic events. Whether it’s just attending their games, or even organizing and coaching them, he loves to be involved with his children’s activities. Currently, their favorite is baseball with Greif acting as the team’s coach.
September 24th, 2008
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General, Education
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Lee Greif spent an exciting five years working in Washington as the chief of staff for Peter Peyser, a recently elected congressman of New York. Peyser was a republican that represented the suburban county of Westchester in New York. He had just defeated Daddario in the gubernatorial race and hired Lee Greif to be his chief of staff. Peyser was a moderate republican who would later go on to run as a democrat in later elections. Grief performed many sordid duties while employed by Peyser who was always impressed with his hard work and dedication. While he worked for Peyser he had many achievements, but none could hold a candle to the fact that he successfully ran two campaigns which got Peyser reelected.
Peter Peyser was a very successful politician who worked closely with Nelson Rockefeller. In fact, the two of them were very close friends. Because of the close political ties in which the two shared, Peyser would often have many exciting and special projects for Lee to work on. They were difficult yes, but the large amount of prestige which they carried overshadowed the hard work in which they entailed.
During the time period that he served as chief of staff for Peter Peyser, the Watergate scandal took place. This made Lee Greif’s five years in Washington an exciting time indeed. There were many events that happened to Lee during this time that he still remembers fondly. One such experience was when he, Peyser, and three other congressmen and their chiefs of staff all ate dinner at the Whitehouse with the President, Richard M. Nixon. Besides this event were the many meetings that were held with Secretaries Of Defense and Secretaries Of State which were always an interesting and educating experience.
Working in Washington during this difficult period however, meant that he had to work with a Democrat during the war in Vietnam and a Republican during the Watergate debacle. As a result, he was often put at odds with his fellow politicians and would have to support positions that were unpopular with the public as well. Many of these policies came from the president himself who was disliked by many people at the time.
One of the brighter times of his five year political career in Washington was meeting his first wife, Randee. When they met, Randee was a member of US Senator Thomas Eagleton’s staff. Eagleton and Greif hit things off well and Eagleton became a major supporter of his throughout his political career. Besides this, they became close friends and Eagleton always supplied him with a healthy dose of inspiration. Eagleton was a democrat from Missouri at the time, but that didn’t interfere with the political relationship of the two. Altogether, the time that Lee Greif would spend in Washington serving as Peter Peyser’s chief of staff was an amazing and exciting experience. Greif would learn a lot during this period and he carried this wisdom with him throughout the years to aid him in all of his future endeavors.
September 24th, 2008
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General, Business
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Mr. Grief is well known in the medical community of Kansas City, Missouri, due to his volunteer work. Grief volunteered countless hours as he served on the Board of Directors of the Menorah Medical Center for over 17 years. Menorah Medical Center was a 430 bed hospital that found itself in some trouble. Grief served as the Chairman of the board for Menorah Medical Center for two years, starting in 1992. When Mr. Grief was elected to the position, the hospital was running into some financial trouble. The hospital lost $10 million dollars during the five years leading up to the beginning of grief’s tenure as Chairman of the board.
Mr. Grief also served as the first chairman of the Jewish Heritage Foundation. Mr. Grief continues to serve on the board; the foundation has been incredibly successful, and in the last year, handed grants to around 100 local charities in the Kansas City Area. What really is astonishing about all of Mr. Grief’s volunteer work, however, is what he managed to do as chairman of the board.
Mr. Greif managed to attract a bid from a public company with deep pockets. Columbia hospital system. This prompted a bidding war broke out in the already competitive market in the Kansas City area.
. Both Health Midwest and St. Luke’s Health System offered bids that asked them to consider joining their own system. This was a bright spot for Mr. Grief and the board, as they were looking to be able to keep a Jewish heritage type of hospital in the area.
Many saw the bids by both Health Midwest and St. Luke’s as an attempt to keep Columbia out of the market in the Kansas City area. Eventually, Health Midwest won the deal. The 430 room hospital was to be merged and closed, and a new 200 bed hospital was to be built on another Menorah Campus.
Lee Greif managed to create a sudden profit in the hospital, and managed to sell it for $29 million while keeping the tradition of a Jewish hospital in the area. His work as Chairman of the Board for Menorah was widely considered an impressive success.
September 24th, 2008
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General, Health, Medicine
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Kansas City, Missouri was not necessarily known as a competitive market in the hospital and medical field. Once news broke out of the intentions of Menorah Medical Center, however, that all began to change. Menorah Medical Center was a 430 bed hospital that had found itself in a bit of a financial bind. In 1992, Mr. Grief was elected to serve as the Chairman of the Board in broad attempt to help, or sell, the hospital. In the five years previous to Mr. Grief’s service, the hospital had lost $10 million. This loss needed to be stopped; Mr. Grief, who has served on the Board of Directors for the Menorah Medical Center for 17 years, assumed the position in order to attempt to help the hospital.
The Menorah Medical Center was losing money at a rate of approximately $2 million a year. The hospital wanted to continue, as it was known in the community for being the Jewish hospital, for those who wanted a hospital in line with their faith.
Once the public and industry became aware of Menorah Medical Center’s willingness to seek a partner, the bids began to come in. The goal of the hospital was to approach other companies in the medical and hospital field to attempt to sell or merge the hospital. While they did go out and request some bids, there were some bids that came in from those companies who had not been contacted. Columbia, a known powerhouse in the medical field, lacking a stake in the Kansas City Market, was one of those companies. When Columbia made their unexpected and unprovoked bid, the bidding war began to take shape.
. Health Midwest, a company that already had a stake in the market, came in and captured the winning bid; while buying the hospital, they would merge with the Menorah Medical Center to open op a new Jewish center on the other Menorah Campus. This 200 bed hospital would be built as the old 430 bed hospital was slowly taken out of commission.
Through the sale of the Hospital, the Jewish Heritage Foundation was created. A portion of this money came from the sale, and Lee Greif was the first chair men of the board. The board hands out grants to charities, and recently handed out over 100 grants to local charities in the last year. The foundation has been considered a success, helping the community in multiple ways. This was partially thanks to Mr. Grief’s volunteer work and his impressive work as Chairman of the board.
September 24th, 2008
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General, Business, Health, Medicine
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After serving as CEO of a family business for four years, Lee Greif bought and sold commercial Real Estate. Over the years, he bought and managed on behalf of his family a total of four businesses, three of which the family still owns to this day. The first business was the only one that he ended up selling. It was a capital investment firm that bought property and leased it to businesses that were in need of temporary property such as schools and banks for example.
The next business venture was the purchaseof Field Force Media Services a company that deals in electronic media transfer and distribution. The family purchased this business in 2003. This successful business has customers from all over the country. The official website of the business can be found here: www.Fieldforceusa.com. The third business was Premier Marketing Incorporated purchased in 2005. It is a corporate publishing company which specializes in image books for automotive and homebuilding customers. It is also a successful business and it publishes about an average of 150 books each year for customers who are located in every state in the country. Its site is: www.Premieremarketinggroup.com. The fourth and final business that assembled is Pro Mail Services. It is a nationwide service that deals in direct mail, fulfillment, and warehousing services. You can learn more about it at: www.Promailservices.com.
Even though Lee spends a lot of time working on behalf of his family on his business ventures, not to mention the volunteer work that he often engages in, he always makes certain to spend time with his family whenever he gets the chance. His wife and three children mean the world to him and he loves to participate in the activities that his children take part in. Specifically, he often organizes and coaches their many athletic events such as their baseball games.
September 24th, 2008
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announcer1
General, Business, Education, Legal
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