Greg hails from a small town in Wisconsin, giving him a deep appreciation for cheese, the Green Bay Packers and summer weather. But Greg hated the cold winters and needed to escape. While earning a Marketing degree, he joined ROTC at the University of Wisconsin, thinking the Navy only goes to warm places. Greg got his wish with assignments in Florida, California and Hawaii as a Naval Flight Officer, tracking submarines from a P-3 Orion for 8 years.
Then he earned an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and entered the corporate world. But eventually Greg tired of the SF Bay area traffic and working for someone else, so in 2003 he moved to the California Central Coast to become an entrepreneur.
Greg started Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab in 2003, and the business quickly gained a reputation for its hand-crafted, super-premium ice cream, a nostalgic parlor experience, and community support. Over the next 16 years the business sponsored 150+ blood drives giving 11,000 free pints of ice cream to donors, granted $65k in staff scholarships, held annual Make-a-Wish drives, and registered as a Benefit Corporation. By 2019 it had grown to four locations and attracted outside investors, so Greg stepped away from the business.
For the past five years Greg worked as a Professor of Marketing at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. But most importantly, during this time he met Teri Burke and in 2023 they moved to Salem to start a new chapter together. They enjoy fixing up their home and traveling. Greg looks forward to writing a marketing book between house projects and travel, bringing his entrepreneurial experiences and teaching ideas to others.
Greg joined the Salem-Creekside Rotary in May and jumped right in helping clean our adopted Halls Ferry State Park. He is a returning Rotarian and Paul Harris Fellow, having served with a Club in Pismo Beach, CA in 2013-14. We are lucky to have Greg as a member and look forward to numerous years of collaboration on service projects.