[upbeat music]
- Good evening, my
name is Duncan Williams
and I'm President of
The Society of Entrepreneurs
right here in
Memphis, Tennessee.
Thanks so much for
joining us tonight
to celebrate our 28th
dinner and award show,
obviously our first virtual
dinner and award show.
We're so glad to have you.
We've got five great
honorees tonight
that have done so much
in their business field,
but also so much
for our community.
But before we get started,
I'd like to ask Dr. Mary
McDonald to come up
and say our invocation.
- Thank you, Duncan.
Before we begin tonight,
let us bow our heads in prayer.
Heavenly Father, Spirit of Life,
you have called us
together this evening
to celebrate and
recognize our new members
and our Master Entrepreneur,
whose lives inspire others
to reach beyond
life circumstances,
to create, to build and to grow.
A good and gracious God,
let us also remember
those members of The
Society of Entrepreneurs
who have died during
the past year,
Fred Davis, Ira
Lipman, Rudy Scheidt.
Throughout their lives,
they have used the talents
and gifts that you gave them
to change the world
for the better,
through their work
and their generosity.
Shower your gifts on all
gathered for this celebration.
Gift us with faith,
courage and outspokenness
so that we will give voice
to those silenced by
fear and oppression.
Gift us with wisdom,
love and compassion
so that we may lift up
those who suffer poverty,
fear and oppression.
Gift us with gratitude
for the many blessings
you have showered upon us.
May all that we do for others,
oh God of miracles and wonder,
serve only to bring
honor and glory to you.
Amen.
- Thank you, Mary.
Tonight for the
10th year in a row,
our MC, who is also a
Hall of Fame speaker
and a New York Times
bestselling author,
Don Hutson will be leading us
through our proceedings. Don?
- Boy, it's great to
have the opportunity
one more time to be the MC
of The Society of
Entrepreneurs annual dinner.
This year, we have
a virtual dinner,
so it'll be a little different,
but we're still
gonna have some fun
and recognize some incredibly
high performance people.
You know, it's been said
that the gas and oil
of the free enterprise system
is the American
business community.
Well, the heart of the
American business community
is so often small business.
And that, of course,
is made possible
because of a number
of courageous people
we call entrepreneurs.
You know, being an entrepreneur
is not for the faint hearted.
It's for the individual
who's willing
to put forth a sacrifice,
willing to take a risk,
willing to learn
some new skills,
and from that, all of a
sudden things can get better.
Because people work at it.
They work as smart as
they can in the process.
It'd be nice if we didn't even
have to put forth much effort.
Years ago, H. L. Hunt,
one of the early
billionaires in America
was approached by an individual
who was writing an article
about his son Lamar.
He said, "Mr. Hunt, do you know
we found out just yesterday
"that your son Lamar,
"founder of the
American Football League
"is losing a million
dollars a year.
What do you think should
be done about this?"
The reporter was all excited,
but the old billionaire just
leaned back and grinned,
and said in his old
deep Texas brogue,
"Million dollars a year huh?
"That's too dang bad,
my boy is gonna be
broke in 300 years."
Well, it'd be nice if we all
had that to fall back on,
but the fact is,
entrepreneurs gotta get out
there and make it happen.
Now, when Ken
Blanchard and I wrote
the One Minute Entrepreneur
a few years ago,
we had Michael Gerber
write a foreword for us.
He wrote a great book entitled
The E Myth About
Entrepreneurship.
And he said that
interestingly enough,
about a million businesses per
year are started in America.
Unfortunately, 40% of
them are out of business
before the year is over.
Some 80% are out of
business after five years,
and 96% are out of business
at the 10 year point.
Successful entrepreneurs
have gotta do a great job
of putting forth
extraordinary effort,
taking those risks,
learning those skills.
The Society Entrepreneurs
is an organization
that honors those people,
who've not only made it,
but they've made it big,
and they have the
right characteristics
and all the right
things going for them
that can make the biggest
difference in the world.
At this time, it's my
pleasure to introduce
the CEO of Chism
Hardy Investments,
Ms. Carolyn Hardy,
the 2020 Chairman
of our membership committee.
- Good evening.
It was my pleasure to serve
as the 2020 Chairman of
the nominations committee.
This was probably
the most difficult
volunteer job that
I have ever had.
Thank you to the
committee members,
Bill Courtney, Mike
Bruns, Duncan Williams,
Mary McDonald, Ron
Coleman and David Andrews,
and the members of
the Board of Directors
for their hard work in
the selection process.
Selecting the new members
from the many nominations
that we receive annually
is truly a challenging task.
Members are selected
based on several criteria,
but in short, those
qualifications
are risk, vision and
strategic growth.
Members must have
taken personal risk
in starting a new enterprise,
had a vision for a new company
that they started and built,
or they took an
existing business
and strategically grew it
beyond all expectations.
I am proud of the
work that was done
to select these
outstanding new members.
Congratulations to Craig
Brewer, Edith Kelly-Green,
Chris Woods and Kent Wunderlich.
Now I would like to welcome
past Master Entrepreneur
and Founder and CEO
of Church Health,
Dr. Scott Morris, to start
the induction process.
- So Craig Brewer has always
seen himself as a filmmaker.
Early in the 2000s, my
wife who's an actress
took lessons from
him to be an actor,
and she will tell you, he
could teach a camel how to act.
Now, that led to his first film,
the Poor and the Hungry,
at the time where,
I think he himself
was poor and hungry.
I mean, he's an example
of a true entrepreneur.
He invested literally
everything he had
into making this film.
And then it was a success.
And then we go on
to Hustle and Flow,
and he wins the Academy Award,
and you understand what
happens after that.
Now, here's what I find
most appealing about Craig.
He never left Memphis.
He could have gone to LA, he
has a lot of friends out there,
but Memphis is his home.
He lives at Crosstown Concourse,
and he's making
really big movies.
Now next year, if COVID lets us,
Coming 2 America
with Eddie Murphy
will almost certainly
be a huge film,
but what I know is that Craig
will still call Memphis home.
[dramatic music]
[upbeat blues music]
- There's this thing
that we do in movies,
when we're doing scripts,
which is like, well,
what's the spine?
What's the one thing I can say,
"Well, this is what
I'm trying to do."
What do you wanna be
doing with your life,
or what do you want
this business to do
for people's life?
I always knew that I wanted
to be a part of
movies and theater,
but it really wasn't
until my father and I
started producing theater
after I graduated
high school together,
that it became a
real passion for me.
He passed away unexpectedly,
and I remember going into his
bedroom to clean out his desk,
and I found a check
that was written
to Walter Brewer and Craig
Brewer for ticket sales.
And the profit was $2.64.
Very early on, I
started thinking about,
some of the ideals that my dad
was putting into me
at the time was like,
$2 is actually a
win in the arts.
[laughs]
When he passed away, I got
$20,000 of inheritance,
and I asked my mother,
what I should do with it.
She said, "Well, what
about that screenplay
that your father read,
called The Poor and Hungry?"
And I was like,
"Well, what about it?"
And she goes, "Well,
he really loved that.
"He really thought that you had
"the right way of making that,
"like just shooting it
on a small video camera
"and keeping it like
with a crew of two
"and kind of, kind of
celebrating the fact
that you didn't have any
money, instead of hiding it."
And that's how my
career got started.
So in a way,
my dad and I really
did get to produce
a film together,
where I could start
sparking on creative ideas,
I could see him running numbers.
I believe in asking what
things cost on sets,
but I think it's because of
those days with dad saying like,
"Well, you know, this is how
this is the box that we have."
To some extent,
boundaries create really
great opportunities
for innovative,
creative thinking.
Sometimes problems ultimately
yield better results.
I think you just have to
embrace that attitude.
I always feel that the
mistakes that I've made
have always been helpful,
and always I can
always learn from them,
and I think the first
big mistake I did
was trying to make a movie,
and I want, I wanted
it to be bigger
than what I could have it be.
I spent, like maybe
$30,000 on credit cards
making a film that was
beyond what I could do
and thusly it failed,
and that was when I
wrote my first movie,
The Poor and Hungry.
I started thinking like,
well, what do I have?
And what can I put in that,
and how can I make
that really big?
And that's the best, that's
the best lesson that I had.
It's very important that you
fail as soon as possible.
I think if you watch people
struggle to make something,
that it changes them but it,
you in the dark begin to kind
of like identify with them,
because who doesn't really
want to express themselves
or do something and
you just feel like,
well, but no one
is here to help me,
and is anybody even
gonna be listening?
But it changes you.
[upbeat music]
- And now it's my privilege
to introduce you
to Craig Brewer.
- Thank you so much
Scott, appreciate it.
I would like to thank you
The Society of Entrepreneurs
for this great honor.
To be in your presence
and in your company
is daunting, to say the least.
I've never really thought of
myself as an entrepreneur,
and as a matter of fact,
I always have a
little bit of a fear
that I know what something
is without really knowing it.
So today, my daughter
and I talked about
what an entrepreneur was,
and we did the responsible thing
and asked Alexa, what
an entrepreneur was,
and we learned that
an entrepreneur
is a person or businessman
that starts a business
or enterprise with
considerable risk.
I can't think of a
better place to do that
than here in Memphis, Tennessee.
And especially with the times
that we live in right now,
I'd like to remind everybody
about Memphis' history,
that after Yellow Fever
devastated this city,
where it couldn't even
call itself a city anymore,
many people, brave people of
all cultures, of all types,
came together to
build this city.
So, when I think of
great entrepreneurs,
I think of Robert Church,
also, Fred Smith,
but I also think
about Sam Phillips
and I also think
about Three 6 Mafia,
Academy Award winning
Three 6 Mafia.
So, it is special to me to be
creating here in this city,
and I wanna thank everyone
that has given me this
opportunity and this award,
and also the people who've
helped me become who I am.
Bar owners who let me come
in on the on their day off
so I could film a movie,
many studios across this city
that has helped me make
music for my films,
and I think the best
way that I can say
how much I love
and appreciate this
is to quote a great songwriter
by the name of David Porter,
who said, "You didn't have
to love me, but you did.
But you did, but you
did, and I thank you."
- At this time, it's my pleasure
to introduce a fellow member
of the founding board of
The Society of Entrepreneurs,
Ms. Ellen Rolfes.
- It's my pleasure to
introduce Edith Kelley-Green.
For over 25 years I have
been around entrepreneurs,
as a founder of
this organization.
And I've come to
recognize the basic,
yet subtle personal
characteristics
of this rare breed.
For over 25 years, I've
known Edith Kelley-Green,
who epitomizes all tenets
that the society was built upon.
Her journey however, is very
different than most of us
who have been inducted.
By certain standards,
Edith grew up
materially poor in
Oxford, Mississippi.
She lived with her grandmother,
Christine Higginbotham,
who was a domestic at the
University of Mississippi,
and she would take her little
granddaughter to work with her.
There began young
Edith's training
in ethics and hard work.
She became determined
to secure an education
to make life better for
herself, her family and others.
And many years later,
at her alma mater,
Edith became the founding Chair
of the Ole Miss Women's
Council for Philanthropy,
and endowed a scholarship
in her grandmother's name
to educate an African-American
female in accounting.
She has since given
three other scholarships
to add to the council's
$16 million endowment.
After almost 30 years
at FedEx, Edith retired.
With 1.2 million,
she founded KGR Group
as the largest multi-unit
franchise owner
of Lenny Sub Shops and other
multiple eatery establishments.
Today, KGR has annual
sales of 7 million
that represents a 650% growth.
Edith's philosophy is to
hire underserved people
that she believes have
a business propensity,
but never has had access
to business leadership.
They must have a deep desire
to improve their
lives and help others.
She's tough, and
she mentors them,
provides professional
development opportunities
and ultimately alters
their personal vision
to success and self awareness.
Several employees now have
ownership in her company.
She is a master at creating
entrepreneurial pipeline
with her strong,
strongly held convictions
that society is never better
until we educate and lift
up the least among us.
She's the real thing.
It is my privilege to
present Edith Kelly-Green
into membership of The
Society of Entrepreneurs.
Edith is one of us.
Let's celebrate her induction
and enjoy her video.
Thank you.
[upbeat music]
- I graduated from Ole Miss,
which is of course located
there in Oxford, Mississippi.
There was a lot of
financial aid there,
because otherwise I wouldn't
had been able to go to school,
and I moved up north
to Memphis, Tennessee
to work for what's now
Deloitte, in public accounting.
And I worked there for a few
years, became a senior auditor,
and someone called and told me
about this little company
that shipped boxes
out at the airport,
and I went for an interview.
The company was growing,
there was a lot of
things going on,
and so the company had
agreed to support Vanderbilt
in this Executive MBA program.
So I ended up going
to school there
to get my MBA at the same time
that I was continuing
to work at FedEx,
so I didn't miss out on
anything that was going on.
The first African-American
female Vice President at FedEx,
so I didn't have someone
to give me pointers.
I probably would have
crafted a different strategy,
not that it would have worked
any better than it did.
One Saturday morning after
having been to the gym,
and I read in the
paper where Len Moore,
the Lenny's guy had sold
his company to someone else,
someone that I knew.
And I made a phone call
that Saturday morning,
of course, I got no one,
saying that I wanted
to invest in Lenny's.
Not that I wanted
to be a franchisee,
but that I wanted to invest.
I got a call back the next week
and it turned out that I
ended up being a franchisee
and then my thought was,
if I am gonna be a
franchisee and own locations,
I would prefer being
the bigger fish,
the biggest fish in
that pond versus,
that is owning 10 or
more versus owning two
in a pond of 100.
The opportunity you
have as an entrepreneur,
and the opportunity
that we have,
is that we can hire people that
other people would not hire.
We have hired people that
other people have not hired.
Sometimes we've
been bitten by that,
and other times, it's
worked out fantastically,
and you found, you know,
found a jewel in the person,
they just needed a chance.
And the second thing
is, I know the
the People Manual
from FedEx days,
and you know, it was
pretty straightforward,
but in Lenny's as
an entrepreneur,
we can give people
second chances
that they would
not be able to get.
in some of the
large corporations,
or even any corporations.
The best advice
that I have received
or just absorbed over my
career is putting people first.
And actually that is
the FedEx philosophy,
People-Service-Profit.
I thought about that
in the workplace
at the time that I
started at FedEx,
but I really believe
and understand that
if you treat people right,
you put people first,
than they will help
you accomplish
all of your other goals.
I always think just
making people feel
that they're important,
they play an important role
to you, to your operation,
and that they are
important to you,
and you do that by asking them,
asking for their opinions,
asking for their involvement,
and then doing something
with those opinions
and their involvement.
I was the Founding
Chairman of the Ole Miss
Women's Council
for Philanthropy,
and it was started to
create scholarships,
and it was a three-legged stool,
scholarship, mentorship
and leadership
that we focused on for students
that were entering the
University of Mississippi.
I'm on the board of
Methodist Hospital,
which includes
Le Bonheur Hospital
and several others
here in the city.
Healthcare, again,
one of my other focuses
in terms of my
philanthropic efforts.
One of the other things
that, initiatives that I
and seven other African
American women started
is Philanthropic Black Women
in Memphis back in 2007.
But being small town kid
from Oxford, Mississippi,
not growing up in any kind
of business environment,
I think I've done,
did pretty well,
and hard work, do the
work, do the work.
- Welcome, Edith.
- What an honor.
Like most everyone,
I continue to wonder
why God has left me here,
especially after surviving
breast cancer 28 years ago.
Ultimately though,
we stop wondering
and we just try to do our best.
An honor like this one,
being inducted into a group
of the best and brightest
entrepreneurs in Memphis,
and perhaps the world,
can only be thought
to be a validation
that perhaps I am
fulfilling the purpose
that God expected me to.
Society of Entrepreneurs, I
thank you for the confirmation
that something I have been doing
was worthy and has
made a difference.
Specifically Pearson Crutcher,
you represent the
Society so well.
I met Carolyn Hardy when we
were both young accountants,
barely knowing how to spell CPA.
We've been friends and
supporters for over 40 years.
And Ellen Ross, you've
always seen the potential
and pushed me to make
that potential reality.
Starting with the
founding chairmanship
of the Ole Miss Women's
Council for Philanthropy,
which allowed me to
visibly demonstrate
my belief in the
power of education,
which was instilled in
me by my grandmother.
My grandmother, with
a 6th grade education,
was the first
entrepreneur I knew,
because survival in Mississippi
for a black widowed woman
raising a grandchild
required unorthodox thinking
and creative strategies
to stay afloat.
I continue to look to her star
for approval and direction.
My mother took up where
my grandmother left off,
and still provides
continuity of the values
and motivation that
my grandmother did.
Thank you both.
I have wonderful kids with
their own wonderful families,
who I know will continue
our family's commitment
to creating
opportunities for others
and giving back
to our community.
James Kelly, who was,
who has been active
with The Society for years,
is a next generation
entrepreneur
and operates our franchises
and our restaurant businesses.
James, I expect and
know that one day soon
you will be standing
in this same spot.
My daughter,
Dr. Jana Kelly-Pearson
has always been an entrepreneur.
She started a mobile
battery charging business
when she was six, and
bought the Lenny's
franchise opportunity
to our family in 2005.
Our family is completed by
Rita Kelly, Justin Pearson
and of course Richard, R. J.,
Sand and Jayce Carter and Jake,
and I love you all,
and I thank you
for you supporting my
initiatives and interests
while I work towards
a normal retirement
and a normal grandmotherhood,
although nothing is
normal these days.
To who much is given,
much is expected.
And for a small town kid
from Oxford, Mississippi
who didn't know
much about anything,
so much has been given to me
and I aspire to give back even
more than what was expected.
Thank you.
- At this time my pleasure
to introduce Gary Dodson
and Tommy Earl of TAG
Truck Enterprises.
Good evening,
my name is Gary Dodson,
I'm the CEO of TAG Truck Center
and the Lonestar Truck Group.
We operate 23 heavy duty truck
dealerships in nine states.
We represent the Freightliner
and Western Star brands
of Daimler Trucks North America.
And my name is Tommy Earl,
I'm the President
of TAG Truck Center,
and I manage nine
dealerships in five states,
Tennessee, Arkansas,
Mississippi, Kentucky
and Missouri.
- We have the privilege
of inducting Chris Woods
into The Society
of Entrepreneurs.
Tommy, do you remember
when we met Chris?
- I do, it was in 2015,
where you were getting ready
to build a $30 million project
on the former
Mall of Memphis site,
and he came over for the
construction meeting.
- Yeah, do you remember what I
asked you after that meeting?
- Yeah, you asked me,
"Do you think this redneck
can pull this off?"
[laughs]
- Yeah, I may have said
something like that.
Do you remember what I
said after the bid process?
- Yeah, you said something
about to the effect,
if we're gonna
spend $30 million,
it seems like we should
be having more fun.
Up into that point,
the project hadn't
been totally enjoyable,
so I think we were
hoping to have more fun.
- Yeah, and his answer,
if you remember,
probably one in the business,
he basically committed to
us that if we chose him,
and chose his company,
that he would make
the process fun,
he would be honest with us,
and that we would be
overwhelmed with the quality
of the completed building.
- Yeah, and I would
say we have been.
We've been in the building
now for over 2 1/2 years,
and it has been an
awesome experience.
He's done it, it's a
fantastic building.
- Yeah, I would say
the building's been
transformational for us.
We basically doubled
revenues since we moved in,
and, hey, it's been a great
blessing to our company.
What do you think
Chris's strongest traits
as an entrepreneur are?
- I think integrity.
I think Chris does
whatever it takes
to keep, to please the customer,
even if it costs his
own money something,
and there's a joke
around his office,
which we really like is,
that you get a lifetime warranty
when you buy a
Chris Wood building,
so we're really, really
happy about that,
and I can tell you that
he's taking care of things
past the normal one year thing.
- Yeah,
- One year of warranty.
So that's been really good.
- I would also say
he's a great leader.
All of his people
that work with us,
John Woods, Dwayne Maddox,
Dwight Maddox, we called him,
Carol Meyer, and John Fee,
really lived the values
that Chris lives every day.
And key leadership is a
really strong point for him.
- Yeah, and I
would say since we,
the nice thing about
since we've met Chris,
his business has basically
doubled since 2015,
from 35 million to $70 million,
and he is, he has just had a way
of taking care of difficult
projects and getting them done.
- He's also very willing to
help people in the community.
I know he supports
various church activities,
has built play
areas for churches
and is very willing
to, to help charities
across the Mid-South.
So hey, we're just really happy
to be able to induct
Chris into the,
to The Society of Entrepreneurs,
and please watch this video
and learn more about
Chris's career and business.
[upbeat music]
- Well, I guess I was blessed
I had two parents that, you
know, were entrepreneurs.
My dad started off
in the dairy business
and found out he was
allergic to milk.
And so they had watched
Holiday Inn's growth,
and they decided to
open the Cottage Motels
in Holly Springs, Mississippi
where I was raised.
So I watched them do their thing
and they got in to raising
tomatoes and we farmed some,
and so I got to watch
them grow and prosper.
They never got rich
but they always provided
a great living for us.
And my entrepreneurial started
when I was probably
six years old.
I would deliver
coffee and doughnuts
to the customers at
the motel I'd get tips.
And you know I might make 50
cents one day, $1 the next,
and so I really enjoyed that.
I went from doing
that as I grew older,
I cut and sold firewood,
I picked up junk,
and I did a little
bit of everything.
I decided that I was gonna
go to Mississippi State
following my dad's footsteps.
I graduated from
there, when I was,
went in when I was pre-vet,
and I got into pre-vet,
and they had the
first meeting there,
and it was probably
125 people in there
and the dean gets
up, and he said,
"I'm so glad to see
all these people here."
He said, "You know,
only 15 of y'all
are gonna be veterinarians."
and I said, "Boy, this is not
me, I'll never make this."
So I enjoyed chemical,
chemical engineering,
so I transferred to
chemical engineering
and stayed there for a while.
Dad was developing
little farmettes
down in Holly Springs,
so he told me one
weekend he said,
"You know you need to come
out and help me sell."
and I said, "Dad, I don't
like dealing with the public."
He said, "You're
going to," he said,
"I'm helping support you,
so you're gonna come
out here and sell."
So I went out there and in
one weekend I made $800,
and I said, "Boy, this
is the life for me."
Probably 23 or 24, he
helped me get financing
and I became a home builder.
In 1980 I had a friend of mine
that was building a plan
up in Nashville, Tennessee,
and he asked me if I want to
build it, and I said sure.
I went up to Nashville,
and I'd commuted up there,
and I hired, and we built
a big metal building up there.
My wife really liked
it, so that started,
we started doing
industrial work
for several
companies in Memphis,
and you know, it
started flourishing.
And that kept on
by 1980 and '89,
I was getting tired of all the
running up and down the road,
and we started doing more
commercial work in Memphis,
and we started out
with small buildings,
and just doing just
anything that we could.
You work for your customers,
you don't work for yourself.
And just make sure
they're always satisfied,
and then everything else
will take care of itself.
You know, our projects range
from 5,000 to 45 million,
and they, we're proud
of every project we do.
And we do, we do probably
20 projects a year
and to kind of carry
the basis of our company,
carry the overhead
of our company
and we're proud of all of 'em.
Every job we do,
we're proud of.
It doesn't matter
how large, how small,
it's always a sense
of accomplishment
which is so important.
We believe in helping
the misfortunate,
and you know, every Christmas
we dole out several thousand
dollars to different churches
that have programs for the
disadvantaged children.
I've got five grand
children that I deeply love,
my two sons, their wives,
my wife, I enjoy her too.
And my grandmother, my mother
always instilled in me,
if you believe in yourself
and you work hard,
you can accomplish anything.
And I really believe
that, you know?
Even though I was a big
failure in sports, you know,
no football, no basketball,
but we've done all right here.
- So Chris, from two rednecks
to another, congratulations.
- Thank you very much,
and I appreciate it, Gary.
Great friends, I
appreciate everything.
What an honor.
I wanna thank the
members of the Society,
and of course the
membership committee
for allowing us to be here
and honoring Chris Woods
Construction and myself.
I especially want to
thank Tommy and Gary,
for their great introduction
and for nominating me.
They have been great
friends and great customers.
I have so admired their
growth and leadership
that they have exhibited,
and the whole entire
TAG operation.
About three years ago,
I was in Tommy's office,
and I was looking
through his pictures
while he was on phone,
and I noticed that there
was a picture there
with Tommy in a tux, with
a medal around his neck.
When he got off
the phone, I said,
"Tommy, what is that?"
And he said, "Well, this
was when I was inducted
into The Society
of Entrepreneurs."
And I looked at it and I said,
"Boy, that's impressive."
Now fast forward about
eight months ago,
I was in our conference
room in a meeting
with my two sons,
John and Justin,
Grant Miles and Brian Campbell,
and lo and behold, in
walks Billy Courtney.
Billy is a lifelong friend
who coached John, Justin
and Grant in basketball.
Billy informed me that I was
being inducted into the Society,
and to him, it was one of
the greatest achievements
he had ever incurred.
I asked him, "Are you
sure this is not a joke
and you've got the wrong guy?"
He assured me he didn't.
So, I wanna, very grateful
for all of our past
customers for 35 years
for allowing us to not
only build their projects,
but also be their friends.
I've been very blessed
with a great company,
but I also have a great family.
My wife Carol has put
up with me 25 years,
and I value her insight.
I have the pleasure every day
of working with my two
sons, John and Justin,
and I know that
my grandson Chris
and my stepson Chris are
guiding us from heaven.
I've also have two
great daughter-in-laws
in Stephanie and Bethany,
and of course, the light of
my life are my grandchildren,
Zoe, Jacob, Collin and Mason.
In closing, thank you all
so very much, what an honor.
- At this time,
it's my privilege
to introduce Gary Wunderlich,
a Society of Entrepreneurs
board member,
and also a partner in
Live Oak Merchant Partners.
- Good evening.
I'm here tonight to
introduce Kent Wunderlich,
who is also known by me as dad.
So this is really fun for
me, but also very selfishly,
it gives me some validation
to my own membership and
The Society of Entrepreneurs.
I've wrestled with
the following question
ever since I was nominated
for membership many years ago,
and that is, "How can I possibly
"be a member of The
Society of Entrepreneurs,
if my dad wasn't?"
After all, everything I learned
about being an entrepreneur,
about how you treat people,
about how you treat
and value employees,
about how you treat
and value clients,
I learned from him.
Now, those of you
that know my dad
are probably wondering
how I learned anything
from a man of so few words.
Well, while the answer
is somewhat of a cliche,
it also happens to be true,
that actions do speak
much louder than words.
I have witnessed
firsthand over 50 years
a man that in every instance
has done what he believes
was the right thing to do.
Not the easiest thing to do,
not the thing that might
make him the most money,
not the thing that gives
him the most recognition,
but always the
right thing to do.
He is a man of his word,
even though they may be few.
So when I think of
Financial Federal,
and indeed what I would call
the Financial Federal family,
due to the incredibly long
tenure of their employees,
I can't help but think
of the Bailey Brothers'
Building and Loan
from that great movie,
It's a Wonderful Life.
Now, not all the parallels are
there, but there are a few.
I've seen a lot of lives touched
by the work of
Financial Federal family
and their own George Bailey.
And indeed, they
run their business
as much to serve the
community for which they live,
as they do for profit.
It's a refreshing
throwback in time,
and a characteristic that
especially stands out today,
in today's caustic environment.
I'm gonna run short on time,
but I have to mention two more
qualities in our new member.
The first one is that of
an incredible work ethic.
This one probably
goes without saying,
as there's never been a
successful entrepreneur
that doesn't exhibit
relentless work ethic.
And last, but probably
should have come first,
is his commitment to his family.
This trait has been
exhibited to me more times
than any amount of time
allotted here today would allow.
So to sum it up,
what would one learn
from watching a
successful entrepreneur
like Kent Wunderlich?
You would learn, be
a man of your word,
always do the right thing,
put purpose ahead of profit,
be truly empathetic, work
hard and love your family.
I've had the occasion
over the years
to receive a few compliments,
all of which I'm very grateful.
And by far the best
one I ever received
was from a man who
said and I quote,
"Well, I guess the
apple just doesn't fall
very far from the
tree, now does it?"
Ladies and gentlemen,
it is my great honor
to introduce to you my
dad, Kent Wunderlich.
[upbeat music]
- I joined a law
firm in Memphis,
now known as Baker Donelson.
I retired from that
and looked around
for a business I might
get involved with,
with another guy actually,
and so we were
looking and looking
and we came upon a
bank, and so the long,
long story short is,
I bought them out,
and so I became an
owner of what was
Financial Federal
Savings Bank.
Did I have an intention
of being a banker?
No, but I did a lot of real
estate work as an attorney,
so this bank does a lot
of real estate lending,
and so I'm familiar
with a lot of,
at least the legal part of it,
and to learn the economic
part of it was fairly easy.
So, I joined the bank
and started the
Construction Loan department
and we grew from there.
My dad was a very successful
businessman in Memphis,
and had two small companies,
and I always ask him for advice.
He was more of an entrepreneur
than I am for sure,
'cause he had two
successful businesses,
and he was very helpful
to me, encouraged me.
He taught me work ethic, and,
you know, that's survived.
I'm 71, I'm still working,
and I don't know, you know,
probably keep on going.
So, he taught me that.
We should have probably
grown a little bit
and, you know, probably
gone to some other cities.
We still, you know, have
grown significantly,
and I'm really kind of
satisfied with what we've done.
I hope the bank
continues and grows,
but you know, you have
to look at opportunities
as we all get older.
I just think being fair and
hiring good people, you know,
it's the same old thing.
It's, if you got good people,
you're gonna be successful.
And that's what we've done here.
We try to help people
along if they need help,
and you know, everybody
just kind of pitches in.
You need to be involved
in the community.
We are involved in housing,
and I like to get involved
with housing projects.
Mostly with with nonprofits.
I've been on some boards
where we've built houses
for low and moderate
income folks,
and you know, we
need that in Memphis.
It's an honor to be inducted.
You know, I'm not sure
I'm an entrepreneur,
all I know is that I work hard.
It's really great
to be, you know,
listed with those folks.
Great Memphians, and I'm a
true Memphian, I love Memphis.
And anything I can do to
help Memphis, I'm for it.
I wanna thank my dad for
all his help and advice
and rest in peace my
partner, who died,
gosh, I don't know,
8 or 9, 10 years ago,
John Montesi.
You know, I'm not gonna
quit, I just don't want to.
- Ladies and gentlemen,
Kent Wunderlich.
Dad?
- Gary, thank you so much.
I wanna thank you so much for
that great introduction, Gary.
I'm not sure we're, you're
talking about the same person.
However, I would
like to start off
with asking the
people on table 4,
back on table 4 to be quiet,
we can hear you talking.
Anyway, it's a
tremendous honor for me
to be inducted to the Society.
When you look at the list of
names that are already there,
it's most impressive.
The leaders of Memphis,
leaders of business,
leaders of
philanthropy in every,
leaders in every
in every good way.
You know for me, I've worked,
worked pretty hard all my life.
I've enjoyed working,
but the foundation
of everything for me
has been my family,
starting with the boss, my wife,
and with my two sons Gary and
Philip and their families,
it's been a great
joy to bring them up.
I cannot forget though,
the the real leader
of our family was my father,
who was a true Memphian,
great Memphian.
Did a lot of lot of more things
than I've ever
done for the city.
And of course, behind
every great man
is great woman, was my mom.
I've been working now for,
I hate to think how many years,
it's near retirement,
but I've enjoyed all of it.
I enjoyed practicing law, I've
enjoyed the banking business.
You know, we are a small bank
in comparison to some others,
but it's like a family
to me out at our bank.
Everybody gets along,
we're very informal.
We all call each other
by our first names,
we don't have a,
we don't have a very
disciplined atmosphere,
and that's what makes it fun.
I would encourage
everybody that's listening,
and most of you already do this,
to be involved with your city,
especially during these times,
there's so many
things you can do.
Please don't give up.
Look forward to greater things.
You know, Memphis will
be or is a great city,
please stay with us.
Stay strong, get engaged,
and get out there
and help support progress.
I wanna thank everybody that
I've had the opportunity
to work with through my career,
I certainly appreciate
what they've done for me.
I can always remember one saying
I used to get from
my football coach,
and that was do right.
And I've tried to kinda
live that for my life,
and I hope people that I have
helped rise will do the same.
Again, thanks so much to my
family, and to all the friends,
who I don't see a whole
lot of 'em out there,
but to all the friends,
and thanks so much The Society.
- Every few years, The
Society of Entrepreneurs
recognizes what we call
the Master Entrepreneur.
And this award is for a
member who exemplifies
a dynamic combination
of attributes
like business acumen,
civic responsibility,
success through self direction,
determination,
creativity, leadership.
And finally, last but not least,
an individual recipient who
is a person of generosity.
They give back to
their community
and they do so with joy.
And now it's my
pleasure to bring up
Ms. Leigh Mansberg,
who's the CEO
of Junior Achievement
of the Mid-South,
and she is going to tell
you a little bit more
about this great recipient we
have to be honored tonight.
Hello, I'm Leigh Mansberg,
President and CEO of
Junior Achievement
of Memphis and the Mid-South.
It's a privilege to be a
part of this celebration
of a legendary entrepreneur
and citizen of Memphis,
Charlie McVean.
You know, our two organizations,
Junior Achievement and
The Society of Entrepreneurs
have a lot in common.
We both understand that building
a successful business
from scratch,
whether you're a 5th grader
or master entrepreneur,
is a mixture of vision,
hope and hard work.
But more than that, we both
know that entrepreneurs
are absolutely essential to
driving a vibrant economy.
We are so grateful that
partnerships like this one,
allow us to plant
the seeds of hope
and hard work in
the next generation,
and help all children in
Memphis and Shelby County
see themselves as entrepreneurs.
Because when children
think like entrepreneurs,
they believe they have the tools
to solve any problem
and change the world.
Thanks to our work with
The Society of Entrepreneurs,
we are raising the next
generation of problem solvers,
visionaries and dreamers,
maybe even the next
Master Entrepreneur.
Thank you again
for the opportunity
to be a part of this work.
And now Founder of
Comtrak Logistics,
and Master Entrepreneur,
Mike Bruns.
- Thank you, Leigh,
I appreciate that.
One of my biggest honors in
The Society of Entrepreneurs
is to have the
privilege of introducing
the 2020 Distinguished
Master Entrepreneur,
Mr. Charlie McVean.
He truly represents the total
and complete definition
of an entrepreneur,
and his mastered that behavior
by devoting his entire life
to making Memphis better.
His backbone and tenacity was
built in the grain industry,
and he founded his
trading company in 1986,
changing the way livestock
was traded forever.
It was a huge risk and required
endless and extreme
perseverance to survive.
He told me, "Commodity
trades are tough.
"It's really just about
grown men taking money
"out of the pockets
of grown men.
Not everyone loves me."
That never give up reputation
earned him the name,
Memphis Charlie,
and everyone, win or
lose, respect him.
He began to parlay
his business success
into the philanthropic arena,
and only one word that
mattered, and it was impact.
He said, rather than give
money to those in need,
he would rather invest
money in those in need.
Impact.
His formation of Peer
Power challenged youth
to be professional, productive,
and contributors to society.
Charlie had quickly
become a change agent
for our great city.
He says, "I'm so proud
that we are turning
"the marginal high
school dropout
"into an employable,
productive citizen
"that will never see 201 Poplar.
"I regret that I couldn't
have sold Peer Power
"to the school
system much earlier,
"but the bureaucracy was
vehemently opposed to it,
and I put more money into
it than I ever intended."
Now, his impact is felt
by thousands of people
and millions of dollars.
He wasn't done.
His Big River Crossing
the mighty Mississippi
that most of you
have experienced,
brought excitement, pride
and jobs to Memphis.
The walk and bike
path running parallel
to the Union Pacific will reach
New Orleans when complete.
Negotiating with a railroad,
especially the largest
in the country,
would be impossible
for anyone else.
But just in case
you didn't know,
the Union Pacific
is headquartered
in Omaha...Nebraska,
where all the
cattle people live,
and who know Memphis Charlie.
Charlie describes his life
so far as pretty simple.
"I would love my
legacy to be Peer Power
"serving kids all
across our country,
"but I am a native
Memphian with a big family,
"including 13 grandkids
and two great grandkids.
"I wanna always stay focused
"on making the world they
live in, named Memphis,
"to be a better place to live.
What better legacy
could I have?"
Well, now you know what a
real entrepreneur looks like.
Our 2020 Master Entrepreneur,
Mr. Charlie McVean.
[upbeat music]
I graduated from Vanderbilt
University in 1965.
And with no particular reason
I planned to be a lawyer,
but then I decided against that,
and then so by accident,
I got into the
commodities business.
- What first attracted me to
working with and for Charlie,
was, as I said, he first
appeals to your intellect,
and then really, you
decide to stay with him
because of his passion
which appeals to your heart
and what you really
want to achieve.
And not only as an individual,
but in something bigger.
- While I was working out
in Missouri on the cattle,
there was no futures
market in cattle.
So I came in and started
working on soybeans
and wheat and corn and
cotton like everybody else,
and the cattle futures market
was only started in about 1964,
and I said, "We just got
a bunch of gunslingers
"and cowboys trading
these cattle,
"I think I can apply
some of the more advanced
"statistical techniques learned,
derivative of the grain
trade and beat these guys."
- Starting the firm in 1987,
with its first trades
at roughly $6 million.
Over the years, Charlie
turned that firm
into managing over
a billion and one.
And so, for a commodity firm
that's a very significant
process and size.
- Well, the most, single
most important thing
is education opportunities
for the less fortunate.
Nothing, that's the sine qua
non, fixing these problems.
- The essence of Peer Power is,
can it change lives,
can it fix the disconnect
between our society?
And I've seen it happen,
and I've seen it happen
over and over and over
to where the young people,
they, you don't use the word
empower, they become inspired.
They become inspired that
they can be successful.
- I remember I
went out and I was,
in short, sort of
asking for money,
and he let me know
that right now
that he, Peer Power needed
to take a step forward
and he wasn't gonna be
able to help me on that,
but asked me if maybe
I could help out,
because we needed to scale it up
and to really make
this powerful,
make it something that affects
not just the students that
are highly motivated already,
but really affect the
day to day students
that needed help most.
- Memphis began as a
cotton trading town
as much as anything else,
and there was a lot of risk
involved in trading cotton.
So it was a culture of
being willing to take risks.
And I think that was important.
- Charlie had consistent
hands on in Peer Power.
He wasn't an absentee owner.
- I think a huge step forward
was when Shelby County
Schools recognized
that this is probably
the most cost efficient
and effective way
that they can find
to improve the educational
outcomes of everyday students.
- Our graduation rate at the
University of Memphis is 84%.
The National graduation
rate is about 49%.
The difference in that
graduation rate is,
we invest in kids.
- Well, first of
all, I love Memphis.
That'd be from a
micro perspective.
From a macro perspective,
I'm very very concerned about
the accelerating deterioration
of any cohesion in the
United States of America.
- While the Big River Crossing
is the world's longest
active bike and pedestrian
trail on a railroad bridge.
So the Big River
Strategic Initiative
is the collection
of all the projects.
Obviously it started with
the Big River Crossing.
It includes the
Mississippi River,
The Big River Trail,
which is on top
of the Mississippi
River levees,
which currently goes
110 miles to the south,
and it is in works to go 100
miles or better to the north.
All of which ties into
the Big River Park,
which will be sort of the
hub of of all the above.
A number of cities
are building parks
in floodplains
around the country.
It's an opportunity
to actually capitalize
on not only recreation,
but also conservation.
- Maybe that quite often there's
more method to my madness
than would appear
at first sight.
- Charlie, it's been
an honor and a pleasure
getting to know you,
working with you,
and the team of people
you've assembled
is truly a pleasure,
because together with
these great people,
we can each be a small
part of something
that is having a huge
impact on our community,
and that is a pleasure indeed.
- Charlie, on behalf
of 25,000 or more
young kids who you invested in,
we all just wanna say thank you,
and you mean a lot more to
us than you will ever know.
- Of course, this is
a great, great, great
and unexpected honor.
And I want to particularly
thank Pearson, Duncan,
along with all of the
members of The Society.
But then, if we look
back at the history
of some of our projects here,
the people who started
the Shelby County
Shelby Farms
Greenline stand out,
and then secondly, Dr.
and Mr. Cherry Freeman
for the great support
they've given Peer Power.
- Once again, congratulations
to our Master Entrepreneur,
Charlie McVean,
as well as our new
members, Craig Brewer,
Edith Kelly-Green, Chris
Woods and Kent Wunderlich.
What an awesome group.
I wanna thank all the members
who are in the
production tonight,
and especially to our sponsors
who made tonight happen.
I wanna thank you
all for joining us
to celebrate
entrepreneurship in the 901.
I got a couple of messages
for you as we close.
I hope you and your
family stay safe
and just remember one thing,
Mask up, Memphis.
[gentle music]
