HABA To Honor John Catsimatidis As Executive Of The Year 2012

The Hellenic American Bankers Association (HABA) will honor John A. Catsimatidis as its 2012 Executive of the Year on Wednesday, April 18, 2012 at the Union League Club of New York City.  A cocktail reception from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm will precede the seated dinner at which Mr. Catsimatidis will be honored. Dignitaries will be in attendance as guests of honor.

John Catsimatidis is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Red Apple Group of New York. Red Apple Group has holdings in oil refining, wholesale and retail petroleum distribution, convenience stores, supermarkets, real estate, and aviation.

Red Apple Group posted revenues of over $4 billion in 2010.  Mr. Catsimatidis is a major employer in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio with over 8,000 employees.

Mr. Catsimatidis is a global leader in the Greek Orthodox Church, in which he chairs the Religious Freedom Committee, bonding together Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and Jews in support of religious freedom around the world.   John and his wife Margo are active supporters of Hellenic youth, the Police Athletic League of New York, and the Kidney Foundation. John is active in politics and was named a member of the transition team for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2011.

The Hellenic American Bankers Association is pleased to honor John Catsimatidis for his professional accomplishments, leadership and devotion to the Hellenic American Community.  H.A.B.A president, Georgia Mouzakis Tavlarios said “The Board of H.A.B.A reviewed many candidates for our Executive of the Year Award. The Board unanimously chose John Catsimatidis because of his devotion and ongoing contributions to the Hellenic American community. We are deeply honored to add John Catsimatidis to our list of illustrious honorees, in this, our 30^th anniversary.”

The Hellenic American Bankers Association (H.A.B.A.) will be celebrating its 30^th anniversary. H.A.B.A. was established in 1982 to promote the professional and educational interests of Hellenic-Americans in the banking and financial services industries. Since its inception, H.A.B.A. has strived to serve the interests of Hellenic-American financial professionals through the sponsoring of lectures, seminars, cocktail receptions and other events. H.A.B.A. has had many distinguished speakers such as Peter G. Peterson, Senior Chairman and co-founder of The Blackstone Group, John A. Georges, retired Chairman and C.E.O. of International Paper, John P. Calamos, Sr., founder, Chairman and C.E.O. of Calamos Investors, and Dr. Charles Calomiris, Henry Kaufman, Professor of Financial Institutions at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. The association has also honored distinguished individuals in the business community, such as Catsimatidis, Executive of the Year.

Some of the individuals honored are William S. Stavropoulos, retired Chairman and C.E.O. of Dow Chemical Company, James Chanos, founder and Managing Partner of Kynikos Associates, and Dean Metropoulos of C. Dean Metropoulos & Company.  Every year H.A.B.A. holds a Vasilopita event where all members and friends gather to celebrate the beginning of the New Year. During the past years, H.A.B.A. has grown to 250 members and has become a leading organization of Hellenic-American professionals.