Ozinga Shares Thoughts on Leadership

Students who take Dr. Rick Hamilton’s BUAD 384 class spend a semester learning about leadership. “Who are you? Who does God want you to be? And what does it take to be a leader?” are some of the questions Hamilton raises in his class.

Now those students, along with members of the community, have the opportunity to hear from leaders in a variety of settings—non-profit, for-profit, and ministry, through the Leadership Speaker Series.

Recently, Aaron Ozinga ’03, president of Ozinga Materials, Inc. and a member of the Board of Trustees of Trinity, offered his perspectives on “For Profit Settings” in a discussion led by Jonathan Zandstra ’17.

According to Ozinga, leadership starts with oneself. “If you aren’t practicing your values, people pick up on that,” he said.

Ozinga Bros. Inc. is a fourth-generation conglomerate currently run by Ozinga, his five brothers, and one cousin. They decided it was important to explicitly define their values, which they identified as “Servant, student, entrepreneur.”

“We are a big company, so you might think we are focused on metrics. But we are very focused on our values,” Ozinga said. “We’re not looking at sales figures, but how we exemplify those core values.”

Ozinga explained, “We make it clear to people in opening introductions what we are about. It comes down to trust.”

On Friday, April 1 at 11 a.m., Rev. Bob Bouwer, Senior Pastor at Faith Church in Dyer, Ind., will speak on “Ministry.” This presentation will take place in the Vermeer Fireside Room. Guests are welcome to attend. Registration is not required. For more information, call 708.239.4806 or email dennis.harms@trnty.edu