Cosmo Luncheon - Mayoral Candidate Rudy Valdez

Mayoral Candidate - Rudy Valdez

Thursday March 9th – Forest Hills Country Club

Cosmo Luncheon – 12:00 p.m.

Please join us as we welcome guest speaker Rudy Valdez, Independent candidate for mayor of Rockford.

An engineer by trade in Rockford's aerospace industry, Valdez is also well-known for his efforts volunteering for organizations in the Rockford region, including the business advocacy organization SWIFTT, as well as serving on committees and boards for the University of Illinois College of Medicine Dean’s Action Council, Rockford Public Schools, Alignment Rockford and the Boy Scouts.  Over his career, he has been recognized with many awards, include the 2016 NAACP Life Membership Award, 2015 Outstanding Community Leadership Award - State of Illinois Comptroller, the 2014 Rotary Club Service Above Self Award, and the 2013 Excalibur Award.  The son of immigrants who relocated from Guadalajara to Chicago, Rudy has been married for 34 years to wife Julia and is a proud parent of three daughters, and three grandsons.  

 “As Mayor, not only will I bring an extensive background in business development and demonstrated  ability to bring distinct business units together to work as a team, I also understand the very real needs of Rockford,” Valdez in a statement. “Through my steady commitment to volunteering in our community, I have a strong understanding of the challenges and the unique and diverse attributes of Rockford that all contribute to our community’s quality of life.”

• 35-year career with leadership positions in the manufacturing, automotive, and aerospace industries
• 27 years at UTAS in various roles
• Led the transformation from a site-centric operations organization towards a unified and seamless entity with a business model for convergence and growth resulting in multi-million dollars in cost reductions
• Improved cultural alignment with over 430 member team across seven Space, Land & Sea (SLS) facilities located in Houston TX, Rockford IL, Windsor Locks CT, Long Beach CA, Canoga Park CA, Pomona CA, and Ontario, CA.
• Created an environment for engagement and collaboration
• Direct management involvement on $500M SLS budget
• Established a new manufacturing facility and delivered MK-50 torpedo stored chemical energy propulsion systems to the Navy, on-time and on-budget while meeting challenging requirements
• Led the UTAS Space Shuttle team through the turbulent post-Columbia trage