This week at Rotary is the 27th Annual Salute to Business. The event is a longstanding cooperative venture of Lincoln Rotary Clubs and brings together Rotarians, civic leaders, and government officials to honor an outstanding local business. This year, Lincoln Rotarians voted to honor Firespring. It will be at the Cornhusker Hotel, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm. Only 6 tickets left, click/tap here or email Yolanda. Master of Ceremonies: Rich Claussen National Anthem: Cooper Creal Invocation: Tony Goins Special Remarks: Secretary of State Bob Evnen, Mayor Chris Beutler, & Rotary Gov. Julie O'Hara Award Presentation: Rotary Presidents Randy Bretz, Paul Horton, & Suzanne Tyrrell Award Recipient: Jay Wilkinson, Firespring CEO Early in life, Jay learned he couldn't follow directions and eventually succumbed to becoming an entrepreneur. Before graduating from college, he started 8 businesses, most of which failed miserably. He eventually caught on, and in 1986 helped launch Campus Connection magazine in NYC which eventually expanded to 350 college campuses. After selling the magazine in '92, Jay moved back to Nebraska to open an AlphaGraphics printshop which subsequently broke the record for the 350-store franchise as the fastest to reach $1M in annual sales. Today, the printing company is listed by Printing News magazine as the #1 (largest) rapid-response printshop in America. In 1996, Jay and his team launched a website design division which eventually landed the Backstreet Boys Band as a client. They knew from that point on, they'd always "Want it That Way" and in 2001, spun-off the division as a separate company. Today, Firespring has more than 200 team members and thousands of clients in all 50 states and all over the world. It became Nebraska's first Certified B Corp in 2014 and was named by Inc. Magazine in 2016 as one of the "50 Best Workplaces." Read more about Jay here. |