CONTACT:
Brad Kaufmann, Junior Achievement
(719) 540-6217
Heidi Reinholdt/Sara Mortimer, Halstead Communications
(212) 734-2190
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT NATIONAL BUSINESS HALL OF FAME RECOGNIZES EIGHT OUTSTANDING BUSINESS LEADERS
--Induction Ceremony to be Held at Lincoln Center, Tuesday, April 18, 2000 --
New York, NY, February 25, 2000 -- For more than 25 years, the Junior Achievement National Business Hall of Fame has honored the nation's most distinguished business men and women for their outstanding contributions to free enterprise and the promise of a better, stronger society. This year, eight business leaders will be welcomed as laureates into the Junior Achievement National Business Hall of Fame in an induction ceremony to be held Tuesday, April 18 at the Lincoln Center in New York City. The black tie event will be televised by CNBC the following weekend and will be hosted by the anchors of "Business Center," Ron Insana and Sue Herera. The event is sponsored by American Express, Bell Atlantic, the Keyspan Foundation and the Pfizer Foundation.
The Junior Achievement National Business Hall of Fame 2000 laureates are: John H. Bryan, Chairman and CEO, Sara Lee Corporation; Lodwrick M. Cook, Co-Chairman, Global Crossing Ltd.; Charles F. Knight, Chairman and CEO, Emerson Electric Co.; John H. McConnell, Founder, Worthington Industries, Inc.; Roger Milliken, Chairman and CEO, Milliken & Company; Harland "Colonel" Sanders (1890-1980), Founder, Kentucky Fried Chicken; Edgar S. Woolard Jr., retired Chairman and CEO, DuPont; William Wrigley Jr. (1861-1932), Founder, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company.
These eight honorees join a distinguished group of 187 men and women who have been inducted into the Junior Achievement National Business Hall of Fame since its founding in 1975. The Hall of Fame is located in the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry's newest permanent exhibit, Enterprise -- where future business leaders are totally immersed in the goings-on of a "virtual" company and are given a taste of what it takes to be a CEO for a day.
Laureates are selected by executives at Fortune 1000 companies, with the individuals receiving the most votes selected for induction. Past laureates have included John H. Johnson of Johnson Publishing Co., Inc., Liz Claiborne of Liz Claiborne, Inc., Walter E. Disney of the Walt Disney Company, and Roberto C. Goizueta of the Coca-Cola Company.
John H. Bryan
John Bryan is Chairman and CEO of Sara Lee Corporation--a global consumer packaged goods company with more than $20 billion in annual revenues. Under his 25 years of leadership, Bryan has overseen the global expansion of the corporation and its growth into the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of leading consumer brands in categories ranging from baked goods and packaged meats to apparel, coffee, and household and body care products. Its leading brands include Sara Lee, Douwe Egberts, Hillshire Farm, Hanes, Coach and Playtex.
Lodwrick M. Cook
Lodwrick (Lod) Cook joined Global Crossing Ltd. in 1998 after retiring as CEO of ARCO after nine years. As Co-Chairman of Global Crossing Ltd., the company after three short years boasts 12,000 employees, $5 billion in revenue, connects 24 countries on five continents and has a market capitalization of $40 billion. Cook also helped develop the Alaska oil reserves and the Alaska Pipeline, and introduced the first, energy-saving clean gasolines while at ARCO. During that time, ARCO doubled its market share on the west coast while achieving profits of $2 billion in 1991, a record for the company.
Charles F. Knight
Chuck Knight became one of the youngest CEOs of a billion dollar corporation at age 37 when he joined Emerson Electric Co. in 1973. As Chairman and CEO, Knight has led Emerson's transformation from a narrowly focused manufacturer to a global market and technology leader in five business segments: industrial automation; process control; heating ventilating and air conditioning; electronics and telecommunications; and appliance and tools. During his tenure, sales have risen more than tenfold to $14.3 billion in 1999.
John H. McConnell
John McConnell founded Worthington Industries in 1955 with $600 he borrowed against his four-year-old Oldsmobile to purchase a load of steel. Today, Worthington is the country's leading intermediate steel processor and manufacturer of metal-related products with annual sales topping $1.8 billion.
Roger Milliken
Roger Milliken is Chairman and CEO of privately-owned Milliken & Company, manufacturer of over 48,000 textile and chemical products, with over 65 operations in six states and 11 countries worldwide. During his more than 60 years of leadership, the company has won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the European Quality Award, the British Quality Award and the Canadian Quality Prize. With a focus on quality, innovation, safety and environmental stewardship, Milliken is also home to the largest textile-owned research facility in the world.
Harland Sanders (1890-1980)
Chicken hasn't been the same since 1930 when Harland "Colonel" Sanders opened his first restaurant in 1930 in Corbin, KY. Although Colonel Sanders dropped out of school at age 12, he went on to run the world's largest chicken restaurant chain. He had more than 600 franchised outlets in 1964 when he sold the company for $2 million. Today Kentucky Fried Chicken has 10,300 restaurants in 83 countries.
Edgar S. Woolard Jr.
Edgar Woolard served as Chairman and CEO of DuPont from 1989 to 1995 and Chairman until October 1997. He was responsible for the transformation of DuPont to a highly-competitive, global company. His leadership of DuPont affected a change in its environmental philosophy that positioned the company as a leader among environmental stewards. DuPont was listed as one of the most-admired corporations by Fortune Magazine and included on Forbes Super 100 survey of the most powerful U.S. companies.
William Wrigley Jr. (1861-1932)
William Wrigley, Jr. was 29 when he moved to Chicago with $32 in his pocket and a dream to start a business. He was a strong believer in the power of advertising and a consummate salesman who used premiums to encourage purchases of his products. He originally sold Wrigley Scouring Soap, but twice, early in his career, the premiums he offered showed more promise than the products they were supposed to promote. Wrigley quickly switched from selling soap to selling baking powder, and finally to selling chewing gum. Today, the Wrigley Company is a leading global confectioner, with more than a dozen major brands of chewing gum produced and marketed in more than 140 countries.
Junior Achievement is the world's largest and fastest growing organization dedicated to educating young people about business, economics, and free enterprise. Through age-appropriate curricula, JA programs begin at the elementary school level, teaching children how they can impact the world around them as individuals, workers and consumers. JA programs continue through the middle and high school grades, preparing students for additional key economic and workforce issues they will face in the future. Today, JA reaches more than 3.5 million students through 160 offices nationwide and one million more students in nearly 100 countries worldwide.
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