Champaign IBM employee going to South Africa
CHAMPAIGN – A Champaign man is heading to South Africa for a month after being selected for IBM's Corporate Service Corps program.
Craig Pessman, an IBM mobile employee engaged in software sales, is one of the first 300 employees chosen to take part in the program.
The program lends employees' talents to worthy projects in Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and South America.
In South Africa, Pessman will work with 13 other IBM employees from nine different countries.
His group will concentrate on developing international tourism for Kruger National Park, a popular destination for safaris that's in the eastern part of the country.
Operating from Nelspruit, a fast-growing community of 235,000, the group will work with the local airport to attract greater interest from international airlines.
Pessman has never been to South Africa. An experienced photographer, he said he plans to remain in the country an extra week to take photos in the national park.
About 5,000 IBM employees applied to take part in the Corporate Service Corps, which focuses on developing leaders for a global economy and improving business and educational systems in emerging markets.
Pessman learned of his selection in November.
"It's an opportunity to meet IBM'ers I'd never meet in another way," he said.
Pessman said the application emphasized community volunteering and leadership roles.
He serves as president of the University of Illinois Networkers, the booster group for UI volleyball. He has also been involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Nabor House Fraternity at the UI and the Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club.
A UI graduate in agricultural communications, Pessman served as a 4-H adviser in Boone County before becoming assistant director of the Illinois 4-H Foundation. He then worked for Wordlink for 14 years, mostly in sales and marketing, before joining IBM 10 years ago.
For the last three months, Pessman has been preparing for the trip, getting educated about South Africa's customs, culture and political situation.
"I've been told the South African people are very friendly and appreciative of the work we're doing," he said, adding the nation is one with "a lot of haves and have-nots."
Pessman has had 6 a.m. conference calls with team members from Mexico, Uruguay, Japan, Taiwan, Italy, Canada, India, Australia and the United States.
The team includes people experienced in human resources, finance, software development, software engineering and project management. It even includes the editor-in-chief of IBM's Intranet network.
At IBM, Pessman handles Lotus software sales, supporting IBM business partners in the Midwest. His teammates across the United States plan to cover for him while he's gone. On his return, he hopes to talk with local civic organizations about his experiences in South Africa.
IBM recently announced it's expanding the markets where it will send Corporate Service Corps members. This list includes Brazil, China, Malaysia and South Africa as well as previous markets such as Romania, Vietnam, the Philippines, Ghana and Tanzania.
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