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News
Hastert begins new job as consultant : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisHastert begins new job as consultant
| Will assist Naperville firm involved in health care, energy efficient lighting
| by Matt Schury
| 3/27/2008
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Former U.S. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Plano, joined Naperville-based Goeken Group last week as a strategic consultant.
Hastert, a resident of Plano, will be promoting the company's energy efficient lighting products and health care information services.
"Two things I've worked on a lot, above and beyond being Speaker, are health care and energy," Hastert said.
Hastert explained that he joined Goeken because the company is tackling energy use, one of the greatest issues of our time.
"One of the things that will definitely drive our economy for the next two decades is how we address our energy needs and how we start to solve the energy problems," Hastert said.
Hastert said the LED bulb's energy efficiency could have startling results if they are used widely.
"We wouldn't probably have to build another nuclear plant in this country for decades to come," Hastert said.
CEO Jack Goeken, a Plainfield native who founded the MCI Communications Corporation in the 1960s, says he has known Hastert for 10 years. He adds that he first met Hastert when he used to eat at a restaurant Hastert's father owned in Plainfield.
During the 1980s Hastert wrote legislation on public utilities and communications in the Illinois General Assembly that he said were needed because of Goeken's work with MCI.
Goeken said that he was excited to have Hastert on board.
"He is very interested in the lighting technology and we are doing something that the country needs and that's how he got involved with us," Goeken said.
Goeken asserted that the market will drive the use of the bulbs.
"Nobody does anything like a private company does and we've been working on Global Med-Net," Goeken said.
Goeken Group Corp., founded in 1995, is made up of PolyBrite International-a lighting technology company, Global Med-Net Inc.-a company that stores and forwards medical records to doctors and medical professional and Personal Guardian Inc.-a medical alert company.
Goeken touts the company's emergency notification equipment and technology.
The system notifies doctors of things like allergies and heart problems or diabetes, which would direct the type of care needed, Goeken said.
Hastert said that health care is an issue that was a cornerstone of his work in Congress.
"I have constantly felt that we need to provide affordable health care to Americans and if it's not affordable its not accessible," Hastert said.
Carl Scianna CEO of PolyBrite, said that his company is able to manufacture incandescent light bulbs without risking mercury pollution something that attracted the former Speaker's attention.
"It's 100 percent green and environmentally friendly," Scianna said. "The bulbs are indestructible, you could throw them against the wall."
Hastert says that there are about half a billion of the florescent bulbs in the country and they could pose a health risk.
"The florescent spirally things that we use now contain five milligrams of mercury," Hastert said. "These (LED) bulbs that they are looking at don't have any mercury at all."
In addition to the environmental benefits, Scianna said Hastert joined the company because of the energy efficiency of the bulbs that can burn for up to 50,000 hours.
"He loves the technology because it is going to solve a tremendous amount of energy issues," Scianna said.
Scianna added that Hastert's experience in government will also be a huge lift to the company.
"He has so many connections with the government and he knows what the government and what this county needs," Scianna said. "He understands business. He knows business people."
However, Hastert noted there are rules that govern when he can get involved in the private sector.
"I can't lobby members of Congress and I can't represent a foreign government for a year,"
Scianna explained that he likes Hastert's down-to-earth nature.
"The thing that I'm impressed with about him is that he really gets into the trenches and he wants to learn as much as possible and he asks a lot of questions," he said.
Hastert says that, as he eases into retirement, he will keep a former Speaker of House the office open in Yorkville to tie up loose ends associated with the office.
Hastert said that one of the things he will be doing is working to bring the Olympics to Chicago. He also said that setting up his Congressional records to be sent to Wheaton College library will take some time.
"We have literally tons of papers that we have to go through and sort," he said.
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