Ohio and PricewaterhouseCoopers are proud to host the 2007 Central
Ohio Business Hall of Fame ceremony. For the past 21 years,
the Central Ohio Business Hall of Fame has recognized more
than 60 distinguished business leaders in the local community.
Please join me in congratulating this year’s honorees — Larry
Hilsheimer, Jack Kessler, Charles Penzone and Jay
Schottenstein. Each of these gentlemen sets a great example for
all of us in his passion and leadership. From each man’s passion
and drive to his true entrepreneurial spirit, these businessmen
are a key part of the fabric of the Central Ohio business community.
The Central Ohio Business Hall of Fame allows us to recognize the excellence that we see in local leaders and strive to pass
on that excellence through our base of volunteers who teach in
the classrooms of Central Ohio. It is this tradition of excellence
that drives us to continue to be the largest and fastest-growing organization dedicated to teaching young people about
business, economics and personal finance. Our volunteers
teach children how to balance a checkbook, get a job and run a
business, among other things. We explore the basics of personal finance, global economic issues and real-life small business
risks. This past school year, we reached more than 30,000 students in Central Ohio, ranging from kindergarten to 12th grade.
Junior Achievement of Central Ohio is committed to our push
into the urban and rural school districts in Central Ohio. The
needs of these children are diverse, but the potential impact of
a solid economic education, combined with the knowledge that
a volunteer from the community cares enough to spend time in
the classroom, can yield immeasurable results for our community. We will also continue to deliver quality programs to our current JA school districts.
Please join me in congratulating our four outstanding honorees and helping us develop the business leaders of tomorrow.
By supporting Junior Achievement, you are helping bring hope
to young people. By giving children the vision and tools that
allow them to contribute to the community through business,
we will make Central Ohio a better place to live and work.
TOM KROUSE is chairman of the board of Junior Achievement of Central Ohio. Reach JA at
http://centralohio.ja.org.
