FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE [ATHENS, GA - January 2024]

We want to express our sincere gratitude for your continued support and understanding during the recent period of transition following the passing of our beloved CEO John Myrna. Your trust and loyalty mean a great deal to us, and we are committed to moving forward together.

Since the beginning of Myrna Associates his son Adam Myrna worked with John to develop the business and the Myrna Strategic Planning Process (™). Together they laid out the vision for Myrna Associates’ future which Adam will carry forward into a new era. We are excited to announce that Adam has become our new President. He comes to us with a wealth of experience as an engineer for the past 30 years.  Adam brings his perspectives as an entrepreneur, an executive manager, and a small business owner. He also collaborated with John on many of his books. Under his leadership, we will continue to grow and thrive.

While we still mourn the loss of John, we are heartened by the legacy of excellence and dedication he left behind, the relationships he fostered, and the dedicated team he nurtured. 

John’s vision and leadership have not only shaped our company but have also created a strong foundation upon which we will continue to build. Adam takes the helm with a deep respect for our company's values and a shared dedication to serving our clients with excellence.

As we move forward, our commitment to you remains unchanged. We have a dedicated and experienced team in place, working diligently to ensure that your needs are met with the same level of professionalism, quality, and integrity that you have come to expect from Myrna Associates. Your trust and partnership are invaluable to us, and we are dedicated to maintaining open lines of communication to address any questions or concerns you may have. 

We understand that transitions can bring uncertainties, and we are committed to ensuring a smooth and successful transition under Adam Myrna's leadership. Adam and the Myrna Team are ready to embrace new opportunities, drive innovation, and uphold the high standards that define our company.

Please join us in welcoming Adam Myrna to his new role. We are excited about the journey ahead and look forward to the opportunity to continue serving you with dedication and passion.

If you have any questions or would like to contact Adam, please feel free to reach out to our team at success@myrna.com.

Thank you for your trust and continued partnership with Myrna Associates. Together, we will embark on this new chapter with a sense of optimism and a commitment to honor John Myrna's memory.

Please continue to follow us on our company LinkedIn Page, Myrna Associates, and our LinkedIn newsletter, Turning Vision into Reality. 

To share memories, photos, and condolences, please send them to 12612 Davan Dr. Silver Spring, MD 20904, or email jwm_memorial@myrna.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[ATHENS, GA -  September 2023] It is with great sadness that Myrna Associates announces the passing of John Myrna, Co-Founder and CEO of Myrna Associates. John William Myrna, born April 22, 1945, in Romulus, New York, died at his home in Athens, Georgia, on September 9, 2023, after a prolonged battle with metastatic bone and prostate cancer.

 John was an intelligent, inquisitive child. While he was in school and working at the Grand Union Supermarket in Wyckoff, New Jersey, John took accordion lessons, eventually performing a leveraged buyout of his instructor and taking over the business. He was quite successful in this endeavor until The Beatles made accordions seem uncool but this acquisition inspired his entrepreneurial spirit and helped pay for his higher education.

 John graduated from Newark College of Engineering in 1967 with a Bachelor’s degree, and then with a Master’s from Montana State University in 1969, both in Electrical Engineering.

While working towards his PhD, the Army called and John stepped up. He went to Fort Jackson in South Carolina for boot camp, destined to be shipped off to combat in Vietnam, when a surprise order came through. John’s previous work as an intern at the NSA in 1962, as well as his experience with computers at a time when that was unusual, saw him shuttled off to Arlington Hall in the Army ASA, defending our nation’s top secrets.

 While still in the Army, John started working part-time for Scientific Time Sharing Corporation (later STSC). After his discharge, he switched to working full-time, which is when he met his future wife, Mary. After their first date, on the auspicious occasion of February 29, a whirlwind 3-month romance followed. This culminated in a wedding at the Rockville courthouse in Montgomery County, MD on June 9, 1972.

STSC was good to John, but his true interests lay elsewhere. In the late 80’s he left to run a small company and then went on to another, essentially working as a turnaround artist. John’s specialty was taking companies with two weeks of salary left on the books and making them succeed beyond their wildest dreams.

But John had his own wild dream. He wanted to take his experience, skills, and knowledge and hone them into a new process he called the Myrna Strategic Planning Process (MSPP). MSPP would provide guidance for small to medium-sized companies so that they could grow and achieve their goals. After years of talking about it, Mary reached her limit. She told him to put up or shut up. So on July 4th, 1991, Myrna Associates, Inc. was born.

As leader and co-founder of Myrna Associates, John’s vision and passion for strategy and planning saved countless businesses from collapse and helped build success for the companies, the stakeholders, and most importantly, the employees, allowing them to continue generating value in a workplace they could believe in. Today, there have been over 1,000 planning sessions and more than 200 clients, totaling millions of dollars in value that would otherwise have been lost. 

In 2019, John’s beloved wife of 49 years, Mary (8/23/47- 6/22/21) was diagnosed with breast cancer for the second time. John cared tirelessly for her until her death. Between caregiving and COVID, John let his follow-up appointments lapse, and a week after Mary died, John received his own devastating prognosis.

Despite his sorrow over losing Mary and his own grim diagnosis, John was not willing to simply give in. He worked indefatigably to continue building the business, gaining more insight and wisdom through multiple CEO and Vistage colleagues, where he also stepped in to provide guidance and mentorship. He spent his remaining time refining the planning process even further and publishing new and updated books so that his teachings could live on without him. Supported by his children and live-in care from his daughter-in-law Jennifer during the last months of his life, John was able to remain active in the business nearly until the end.

A fantastic husband, father, friend, and leader, John was dedicated to his family. John is survived by his children, Adam and Jennifer Myrna, and Kathern Myrna, a professor of veterinary ophthalmology at UGA, two devastated but wonderful grandsons, Connor and Peter, and his heartbroken dog, Jester. He also leaves behind cousins, nieces, nephews, and the large family he gained through Mary.

 Myrna Associates is continuing John’s dream with his son Adam, a process engineer who collaborated with John on many of his books, taking the helm. Adam brings with him his perspectives as an employee, a manager, a small business owner, and an entrepreneur. With support from Marketing Manager Jennifer Baarson, Myrna Associates facilitators Maria Birkhead and Omari Kamal will continue to guide businesses with the strategic planning process that John spent over 30 years perfecting.

In lieu of flowers, it would please John’s family if you would place a bird feeder, preferably in a dogwood tree, Mary’s favorite. John and Mary loved to watch the birds visiting their garden oasis, and John later loved to watch them in the trees planted in Mary’s memory. Think of them both fondly whenever you hear birdsong or see the birds and blooms every spring.

Contacts: 

 Adam Myrna, President

jamyrna@myrna.com

 Jennifer Baarson, Marketing Manager

jbaarson@myrna.com