Contact: Rich Carlton
(574) 232-1553
RCarlton@gramtel.net

Date: 6/15/2007

40 Under 40

Giving others a chance, just as others did for him

By JENNIFER OCHSTEIN
Tribune correspondent

SOUTH BEND-Tracy Graham said he has a passion for helping build and having a vision for something great. That passion is where his entrepreneurial spirit springs.

“I enjoy working with people, and I have a passion for business,” Graham said. “As an entrepreneur, I get to set the direction of where we’re going and find other people who can buy into that vision. It’s like going on a journey.”

His other passion is taking chances on people who may not have otherwise had the opportunity to excel.

Graham, who grew up in the tough Englewood district of Chicago, said he, too, was given opportunities that helped him excel.

It was Lou Holtz, former football coach at Notre Dame, who taught Graham that commitment to excellence is one of the basic foundations of success, said Graham, who played football under Holtz.

And Graham soaked up knowledge from Christopher Murphy, chairman of 1st Source Bank in South Bend.

“I credit him a lot,” Graham said, mentioning others who’ve mentored him along the way. “He let in a kid who was 21 years old and from the streets of Chicago. He tutored and guided me.”

Now he wants to give others the chance those men gave him, acting as a conduit into the business world for talented people who can’t seem to gain access to it because of where they grew up or their life circumstances.

Tracy Graham/GramTel

Age: 33

Family: Tracy is married to Kerie Graham, and the couple has three children: Kira, 13, Kayla, 5, and Kacie, 1.

Education University of Notre Dame with a degree in sociology in 1995.

Home: Granger

Business/position: President and CEO of GramTel