Mayfield Village Council at its May 20 meeting said goodbye to Finance Director Ron Wynne who decided to leave the village to retire with his family.

Starting in 2009, Ron Wynne saw the village through some troubling times. Most notably when Progressive Insurance decided to leave the village, taking their workers and taxes with them. The hit that the village had to take didn’t pack as much of a punch as it could have, due to Wynne’s planning as he positioned the city to still have a surplus of over $40 million, cushioning the blow.

Mayor Brenda Bodnar said she was sad to see Wynne leave but was happy he would be able to spend more time with his family. She hopes he comes to visit but understands if he’s a little busy.

“Ron, I can honestly say that you have done more for us in 15 years than some do in a lifetime,” Bodnar said during the village council meeting. “I cannot tell you how much you will be missed, but I can assure you that your legacy of sound training and transparent financial management will live on here in the village.

“On a personal level Ron, I can always count on you for straightforward information, clear direction, complete candor, and a wicked sense of humor,” she added. “You are an invaluable friend, and we will all miss you greatly. And while we want you and (wife) Debbie to have an absolute blast in retirement, we hope that you keep in touch.”

Wynne himself said he was happy to be able to play golf and travel a bit. He said that although he doesn’t live in the village, he will definitely stay in touch with his lifelong friends.

“I look forward to retirement and traveling with my family,” Wynne said after the council meeting. “I’ve seen a lot of changes and a lot of positive growth, and I wish the village all the success in going forward.

“I’ve made friends here that are going to be friends way beyond my years here,” he added. “I think they’ve had great leadership in the time that I’ve been here, they have been visionaries in what they want in terms of growing the village and if they keep that up the village will be a great place going forward.”

Mayfield Village has appointed Angie Rich as his replacement, who was sworn in last month.

In April 2023, Credendo became a member of Wo·Men in Finance. This organisation was created in 2019 with the aim of accelerating gender balance at all levels within the financial sector.

Why did Credendo become a member?

Through this membership, Credendo wants to further strengthen its inclusive and diverse working environment, in which everyone is able to achieve their full potential. As you can read in our CSR report, supporting social and sustainable projects is important to us. Furthermore, one of our core values is to pay special attention to the mix of different cultures, experiences and backgrounds within our own organisation. It is also part of the Credendo Cares programme, which has been in place since a long time. It is for good reasons that we have earned the Leading Employer Quality Label.

Wo·Men in Finance will help us position ourselves even better in terms of diversity and inclusion.

By becoming a member, we are committing to:

• measuring glass ceilings within Credendo;
• sharing our gender progression at different levels and gender equality initiatives with Wo·Men in Finance;
• participating in the advisory board of Wo·Men in Finance.

Being a member gives us access to:

• 10 yearly workshops organised by Wo·Men in Finance on various themes, ranging from how to use AI inclusively and how to start employee resource groups, to sexism prevention or inclusive job offers;
• free consultancy services such as in-house training or presentations, adaptation of job offers to make them more inclusive, a review of our gender KPIs, etc.;
• our own benchmarking report with personalised advice, comparing our gender results with those of the sector;
• a Febelfin toolbox with 25 tools to improve inclusion.

Credendo is proud to have achieved significant gender diversity. Our workforce is made up of a balanced mix of men and women, with a total of 50.6% women across all subsidiaries. This result is not just a statistic for us. It demonstrates our commitment to equity and inclusion.

“We have an issue with the economic model in which China is producing more and more cheaper industrial devices because it could be a threat not only for the EU, not only for the US, but for the global world economy,” Le Maire said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “We need to address that issue.”

Leading industrialized nations are coalescing for a tougher and more united challenge to overcapacities in China, which they say threaten their domestic manufacturers. 

G-7 finance chiefs meeting in Stresa, Italy cited the country by name as they agreed to “respond to harmful practices” and “to consider taking steps to ensure a level playing field.” Those words marked an escalation from the sparse and more neutral language on trade they standardly use in communiques. 

Their statement followed Washington’s announcement on Friday that President Joe Biden will reimpose tariffs on hundreds of goods imported from China. Meanwhile the EU is nearing the end of an electric-vehicle subsidy investigation that is likely to lead to defensive measures against China’s auto exports.

The EU’s potential levies are expected to be significantly lower than the US’s and based on a different approach within World Trade Organization rules and procedures.

Le Maire said at the G-7 meeting that member countries need to strengthen information exchange and establish a shared assessment of China’s industrial practices. Nonetheless, he insisted that the EU has all the necessary tools to reestablish a level playing field .

“Don’t make any mistake about the determination of the EU countries and the French determination,” Le Maire said. 

AI Cooperation

The French minister said he is seeking to preserve gains from years of government policies and investment to build its own industry and technology sectors. 

A key priority is Artificial Intelligence, where France intends to preserve its leadership in Europe. That has attracted foreign capital, with Microsoft Corp. announcing €4 billion in investment in French cloud and AI infrastructure this month. Paris-based Mistral AI has also announced a partnership with Microsoft in February. 

Asked if he could used state screening rules to prevent foreign investors taking over French tech companies, Le Maire said the point at the moment is to increase cooperation, not to block it. 

“We will see what are the options of cooperation between Mistral and Microsoft,” Le Maire said. “For the time being, Microsoft is investing in France, is opening data centers in France and investments of Microsoft in France are most welcome.”