Scott Hamilton, Paychex CEO turned passion into enterprise

A Fortune 500 CEO and an Olympic gold medalist will talk about what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur April 29 at BGSU.

Bowling Green native Scott Hamilton, an Olympic gold medal skater in 1984 and co-creator of Stars on Ice, and B. Thomas Golisano, founder, chairman and CEO of Paychex Inc., are the keynote speakers for "Turning Passion into Enterprise." The daylong seminar, hosted by the College of Business Administration, will be held in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union.

In addition to the keynote speakers, the seminar will feature discussions by two panels of entrepreneurs and the announcement of winners in the 2004 Student Entrepreneurship Competition.

Keynoter Golisano, the luncheon speaker, started Paychex in 1971 at the age of 30. Today, with more than 8,500 employees and 490,000 clients, the company is the nation's leading provider of payroll, human resource and benefits solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises. Based in Rochester, N.Y., the business generated nearly $1.1 billion in service revenues in 2003.

B. Thomas Golisano

Paychex recently was named one of the 26 best-managed companies in America and hailed as the best company to work for in the business services sector by Forbes magazine. Last year the Wall Street Journal rated Paychex among the top 25 best performers over a 10-year period, based on total shareholder return.

Like his company, Golisano has earned many recognitions. In March he was named the Outstanding Philanthropist of 2004 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals. He earlier was chosen Entrepreneur of the Decade by Rochester Business Magazine, named to Inc. magazine's "Dream Team of the Eighties" list, and received the 1996 "Master Entrepreneur" award in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards competition for western New York state.

Hamilton will deliver the second keynote address at 4 p.m. during the final session of the seminar. The adopted son of two former Bowling Green faculty members, both now deceased, he learned to skate at the BGSU Ice Arena. Since graduating in 1984 from the amateur ranks with numerous medals and world titles, he has captured even more accolades in the professional world of sports and entertainment.

In addition to 15 national touring seasons with Stars on Ice—which he co-created and co-produced—Hamilton has independently produced ice shows, covered the Winter Olympics as a commentator with CBS Sports, and become one of the most sought-after guest stars in ice skating. The first star to combine skating, dancing, singing and acting in a single stage production, he has won an Emmy Award for a television special and has received praise for his on-air commentary and his biography, Landing It, published by Kensington Books.

Scott Hamilton

photo by Don Synder

Hamilton now tours the country as a motivational speaker, talking about his life and overcoming cancer, which interrupted but did not end his career on the ice. When not performing or doing charitable work, he is a spokesperson for Target House at St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and the Scott Hamilton CARES Initiative (Cancer Alliance for Research, Education and Survivorship) at the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Center. He also serves on the Special Olympics board of directors.

Nearly a dozen entrepreneurs in all will share insights into their business successes and failures during the BGSU seminar, which is the first event in the Bob and Karen Sebo Lecture Series. The Salem, Ohio, couple is providing underwriting for the event as part of a multiyear commitment to support entrepreneurship efforts at the University. Robert Sebo, a retired senior vice president of Paychex Inc., is a member of the BGSU Board of Trustees.

Karen Sebo will moderate a panel on "Keeping the E-spirit Alive." Panelists will include Joan Bayer of Toledo, president of Concept Rehab; Ronald R. Whitehouse of Nokomis, Fla., former president and CEO of HG Chicago Inc.; William D. Dallas, chairman and CEO of Dallas Capital and Ownit Mortgage Solutions in Woodland Hills, Calif., and Elizabeth C. Brady, vice president and treasurer of Plastic Technologies Inc. in Holland, Ohio.

A second panel, titled "If at First You Don't Succeed…Try, Try Again," will focus on lessons learned from missteps. Members of the panel will be Richard Anderson, chairman of The Andersons in Maumee; Don Harbaugh, president of Toledo Molding & Die Inc.; David K. Welles Jr., former chairman and CEO of Therma-Tru Corp. in Maumee, and Ronald Thompson, chairman and CEO of Midwest Stamping and Manufacturing Co. in Maumee. Sharon Speyer, president of Sky Bank in Bowling Green, will be the moderator.

Although established only last year, Bowling Green's entrepreneurship programs already have earned a prestigious grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the nation's leading supporter of entrepreneurial education. A portion of that grant and a gift from Sky Bank is helping fund the April 29 event.

For more information or to make reservations to attend the seminar, call Continuing & Extended Education at 2-8181. The registration fee is $85, which includes lunch.