About Us
Tim Weilandt – President, CEO
Tim has been a licensed attorney for over 30 years. The bulk of his legal career through 2014, has been as a partner with McCarthy Duffy LLP, a LaSalle Street Chicago Law Firm, representing public companies, private businesses and financial institutions.
Tim has formed various investment partnerships, typically between 5 and 25 million in value, for the purpose of acquiring various distressed assets. He acquired the Fox Valley Ice Arena in Geneva, IL and subsequently formed a sports facility management company which continues to manage the facility. The company, Fairview Facilities Management, LLC also manages the Leafs Ice Centre in West Dundee, IL. He has now owned and managed sports facilities for over 11 years. Tim no longer practices law and devotes his full attention to Fairview Facilities Management LLC.
Tim holds a BBA in finance from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and Law degree from DePaul University.
Craig Welker – Executive Vice President
Craig joined Fairview Facilities Management in 2013 and currently holds the position of Executive Vice President of Fairview Facilities Management, LLC and has held this position for three years. Mr. Welker oversees the Leafs Ice Centre and Fox Valley Ice Arena facilities. He was instrumental in the complete restructure of both facilities and returning them into profitable first-class arenas. In his role as Executive Vice President, he is responsible for all areas and day–to-day operations of both facilities, including fiscal planning, on ice program development, insurance, risk management, program scheduling/point of sale, and operations. He has extensive knowledge of the industry leading MaxGalaxy cloud based software platform.
Mr. Welker has brought to the team 20 years’ experience working in the ice rink management business, plus extensive high-level referee experience. His ice rink experience includes Arena Supervisor, Hockey Director, and General Manager. Craig worked as a referee in the NCAA Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and Big Ten Conference Men’s Division 1 College Hockey for over 11 years. He officiated in arenas all across the United States while working NCAA D1 and Professional hockey. Craig is currently a board member with the Illinois Hockey Officials Association. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Management from DeVry University, earned his Certified Ice Technician (CIT) designation from STAR in 2014 and his Certified Ice Rink Manager (CIRM) designation from the US Ice Rink Association in 2015.
Rockne Brubaker – Skate School Director
Rockne Brubaker began skating at the age of five. He grew up figure skating and playing hockey in the Chicagoland area. Originally a singles skater, he began learning pairs at age 12 and competed in both disciplines until he chose to focus solely on pairs at age 18, once he earned a spot on Team USA.
Rockne, as a member of the US Figure Skating team from 2004-2014, went on to win 2 U.S. Junior Championships, became a Junior Grand Prix Final & World Junior Champion, he won 2 U.S. Senior Championships and multiple international ISU Grand Prix and ISU Championships Medals. He was also an Olympic Alternate.
While he was competing, Rockne earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business with and Emphasis in Sport Management from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs.
After he retired from competitive skating in 2014, he took the Skating Director position at Fox Valley Ice Arena. He currently runs all of the programming for the Skate School at Fox Valley Ice arena along with his wife and Assistant Skating Director Stefania Berton. Rockne also coaches figure skating and hockey. Currently he coaches the 2017 figure skating pairs National Champions.
As a figure skating coach, he coaches all levels from Basic Skills classes and recreational skating to elite competitive figure skating. Rockne’s main focus with hockey is coaching power skating. He works with teams and players all over the Chicagoland area as a power skating coach and consultant.
Stefania Berton – Assistant Skate School Director
Stefania Berton is an Italian pair skater. With former partner Ondřej Hotárek, she is the 2013 European bronze medalist, the 2013 Skate Canada International champion, and a three-time Italian national champion. Berton/Hotárek are the first Italian pair skaters to win European and Grand Prix medals. They won bronze at the 2013 European Championships, becoming the first Italian pair skaters to medal at Europeans.
Berton/Hotárek started the 2013–14 Grand Prix season at the 2013 Skate America and finished 5th. They won their first GP title at the 2013 Skate Canada and then finished 4th at the 2014 European Championships, behind Vera Bazarova / Yuri Larionov. Berton/Hotárek finished 11th in the pairs event at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Sean Nicholson– Fitness Center Facility Manager/Director
Nick Petrovic has a Masters in Kinesiology with emphasis in Strength and Conditioning. Prior to arriving at Fox Valley Fitness he has held internships at the University of Wisconsin and Minnesota working with all sports. Nick also served as a High School Strength and Conditioning Coach. He has had the privilege of working under one of the premier hockey strength coaches in the country Cal Dietz. During this time he was able to train several Professional Athletes. Nick believes that training not only improves your performance in sport, but more importantly teaches valuable life lessons.
Matt Leonard – Operations Manager
Matt has been a team member of Fairview Facilities Management, LLC team for three years.
He is responsible for all areas of the day-to-day facilities operations at both Leafs Ice Centre and Fox Valley Ice Arena. He oversees the refrigeration plants, all mechanical operations, ice surfaces and daily facilities maintenance.
Mr. Leonard has 21 years of hands on experience within the ice arena business. He has held the Operations Manager position since 2002 and has been a Certified ice Technician since 2004. He has been responsible for numerous start to finish ice surface installation in both indoor and outdoor facilities. Matt has been the head Ice Technician for the NAHL Chicago Freeze and is currently the head Ice Technician for the 2017 USHL Clark Cup Champion Chicago Steel.
Wendy Schifferer – Sales & Marketing Director
Wendy has been a member of the Fairview Facilities Management, LLC team for the past six years. She currently oversees all sales and marketing at both Leafs Ice Centre and Fox Valley Ice Arenas. Wendy is responsible for all marketing programs, marketing strategies, community involvement, and full sale/advertising programs at both arenas.
Ms. Schifferer brought to the team 20+ years progressive responsibility in the marketing field, ability to articulate the facilities image and business value. Entrepreneurial leader who champions the development of unique programs for supporting the arena’s sales and marketing objectives and development of the arena’s brand image. Focused on increasing strong brand awareness of and demand for the facilities line of products through marketing programs which include, but are not limited to – traditional and online advertising, direct and database marketing, public relations, social media, and corporate events, product branding, sales collateral and sales support materials, promotional programs and materials, website development and communications, and all forms of selling and marketing presentations. Essential to the short and long term success and able to quickly assimilate into the business and establish credibility as a “hands on” marketing expert who is exceptionally creative and is a results-driven professional. Wendy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Lewis University. She currently sits on the Sports Commission Board for the Elgin Area Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Cal’s Angels Foundation as an executive board member.