Paul J. Meyer to Address Premier Fasttrac Entrepreneurs

by Alan Hunt

Graduates of the Premier FastTrac Program will be honored during a graduation ceremony and reception at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 2, at the Bear Club in Floyd Casey Stadium.
Keynote speaker for the program will be Paul J. Meyer, philanthropist and founder of Success Motivation Institute. Meyer began his career in insurance sales after his military service and quickly became a top producer, leading two of the nation's largest life insurance companies. By the age of 27, he had acquired a personal net worth of $1 million. Later, Meyer founded Success Motivation Institute and Leadership Management, Inc. to help people develop their management skills.
Honorees in the FastTrac I, Beginning Entrepreneurs section are: Robert Dippel, Al Ringling Mansion; Janet Emerson, Grammy From Texas; Martha Hopkins and Randall Lockridge, BookBytes; Robert Mason, Waco Fun Palace; Irene McDow, Educational Tutoring; Michael Reynolds and Catherine Reynolds, Copy Writers; Debbie Smith, Wedding Coordinator Outside City; Maereatha Smith, Desktop Publishing; Larry Thomas, Bilingual Board Games; James Thro, Thro's Auto & Truck Repair; Chad West, Carpet Store; and Huber Wilkinson and Jane Wilkinson, MindPrime.
Honorees in the FastTrac II, Growth Oriented Entrepreneurs section are: Jack Abbott and Brenda Abbott, Hardwood Productions, Inc.; Steve Baugh, Triplet Diesel Injection; Howard Cohen, Kestner's Department Store; Brian Ginsburg, New York Clothiers; Norman Hoffman, Mercury Tool and Machine, Inc.; Janis Holcomb, Dixie Finance & Furniture; Evan Klaras, Wilkirson-Hatch Funeral Home, Inc. (PreNeed); Ted Kochman, Kestner's Fine Jewelry; Sonny Love, Mercury Tool and Machine, Inc.; Danny McKelroy, Mac's Heating & Air Conditioning; Darlene Nobles, Sign of the Times; Jack Peck and Robert Peck, Mercury Tool and Machine, Inc.; Patrick Pollei, Pollei Designs; Louis Salinas, Salinas Insurance Agency; and Nancy Summers, The Living Source.
A national program geared toward aspiring and current entrepreneurs, Premier FastTrac is co-sponsored by Baylor's John F. Baugh Center for Entrepreneurship, the City of Waco and the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce in partnership with Texas State Technical College, Small Business Development Center/Business Resource Center, McLennan Community College, Cen-Tex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Heart of Texas Black Chamber of Commerce.
The Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Inc. at the Ewing Marion Foundation and the Waco Foundation are special benefactors to the FastTrac program. Forty-four volunteers worked on 10 committees to facilitate the Premier FastTrac program. In addition, there were two instructors, four business counselors and 27 Baylor students involved with the fall classes.