Peter Cooper: His Faith Carried Him to Success

Peter Cooper is an American industrialist, inventor and philanthropist. Along with two friends, Cooper founded the Canton Iron Works in 1829. Canton assembled the Tom Thumb, one of the earliest versions of locomotives in the US. Canton almost went bankrupt at one point but Cooper’s experience working with Baltimore and Ohio RR helped him save Canton from collapse.

In the next two decades, Cooper’s holdings began to expand. He became one of the leading entrepreneurs in the iron industry. He received the Bessemer gold medal in 1870 for being the first to use iron to erect a fire proof building. Several patents for processes and devices can be credited to Cooper.

But Cooper’s greatest contribution was his unwavering faith in Atlantic cable industry. When local banks refused to fund the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company, Cooper was forced to place heavy investments. Cooper made an excellent decision and became the company’s president for two decades. He also led the North American Telegraph Company which controlled half of the telegraph lines in the US.

As a philanthropist, Cooper was active in civic affairs in New York City. He helped sustain the public schools and contributed much to improve a few municipal departments. He established the Cooper Union which provided education to local residents of New York.

The Story of a Great Business Partnership Between William Colgate and God

William Colgate is an English businessman who founded the manufacturing company that would produce the Colgate toothpaste in 1806.

William was born on January 25, 1783 in Kent, England. His father, Robert, had republican inclinations which compelled him to move his family in Baltimore, Maryland in March 1798. Robert and his friend Ralph Maher formed a partnership that produces soap and candles. William helped the business until it was dissolved two years after its founding.

William first arrived in New York City in 1804 as an apprentice to a soap manufacturer. He learned the business very quick. He noted some mismanagement practices done by his employer. When his apprenticeship was over, he has already developed a correspondence network with local dealers that would assure his success in business.

Soon, William established the William Colgate and Company. Within the company’s first six years of operations, it has diversified into a multi-faceted manufacturing company that produces hand soap, shaving soap, toilet products and starch.

William was a devout Christian. He was committed to make God as a partner in his business. He was faithful in giving back ten percent of his profits as his tithe, on top of offerings and first fruits. In just a few years, William became one of the most successful entrepreneurs in New York City.

William was actively involved in civic affairs. He gave large contributions of money to educational institutions including what was known then as Madison College. Today, this school is known as Colgate University.

Because of his passion to share God’s Word, William helped to organize the American Bible Society and the American and Foreign Bible Society. He was also a member of the board of the American Tract Society aside from his active support to the work of missions. His colleagues in the ministry called him “Deacon Colgate”.

As his business kept growing, his giving to the work of God continued to enlarge as well. From giving back the tithe, his giving later increased to 20%, then 30%.

Today, Colgate-Palmolive is listed in the Fortune 500 and remains as one of the largest companies in the world. Its annual worldwide sales are reported at $9 billion. Its operations are spread to 221 countries around the world.

Jed Drake: Leading ESPN’s Coverage of Major League Baseball

With more than 30 years of production experience at ESPN, Jed Drake currently serves as Senior Vice President and Executive Producer of Event Production. Promoted to a position as Coordinating Producer in 1989, Mr. Drake made an immediate impact in spearheading development of several new areas of programming, including Major League Baseball (MLB). He notably helped the network reach a $400 million agreement with MLB that gave ESPN four-year rights to broadcast 175 ball games each season.

Beginning in 1990, ESPN featured 11 live MLB broadcasts each week, with studio coverage incorporated seamlessly into on-site productions. These broadcasts included the flagship Sunday Night Baseball and Wednesday Night Baseball brands. In addition, ESPN aired numerous double header events on Fridays and Tuesdays, and special coverage on Opening Day and during major spring and summer holidays. This unprecedented coverage notably guaranteed nationwide exposure to every single MLB team from its home ballpark.

Baseball on ESPN has been a significant revenue generator over the years, with record ratings achieved during extended coverage of Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds’ single-season home run record quests. Other memorable moments included live coverage of several Wild-Card tiebreaker game in the late 1990s, with Joe Morgan and Jon Miller in the sportscasting booth. ESPN continues to provide industry leading coverage of MLB regular and postseason action and also brings fans the daily highlight program Baseball Tonight.

Jed Drake’s efforts to improve baseball viewers’ experience have extended to the technological sphere with the introduction of the K Zone. This innovative ball tracking graphic let sports fans clearly view the ball’s path from the mound to the plate, and judge for themselves the pitcher’s accuracy and the umpire’s strike zone. The K Zone interface notably earned Jed Drake and his team a 2002 Sports Emmy Award in the Innovative Technical Achievement category.

Edward Collins: Surviving Life’s Storms

Edward Collins was an American businessman who became an icon in the shipping industry. He was born in Truro, Massachusetts on August 5, 1802. Collins’ mother died after he was born so he grew up with his aunts.

Collins moved to New Jersey in 1815 when he was 13 to study. He worked with McCrea and Slidell, a counting house in New York. Later, Collins joined his father in 1821 at LG Collins and Sons where he became a partner in 1824. They started with a regular packet service from New York City to Veracruz, Mexico and vice versa.

When his father died in 1831, Collins entered the cotton trading business from New York to New Orleans. He had his first shipping line in 1831.

Collins received subsidy from the government in 1847 to create the United States Mail Steamship Company. Two of his five ships sank and the government cancelled the subsidy in 1856. His wife and two children were on board the SS Arctic when it sank.

He moved to Wellsville, Ohio and ventured in oil drilling and coal mining. He died on January 22, 1878 in New York.

Clyde Cessna: “Birdman of Enid”

Clyde Cessna was an American aviator and aircraft designer who founded the Cessna Aircraft Corporation. Cessna was born on December 5, 1879 in Hawthorne, Iowa. He grew up in Kingman County, Kansas near the Chikaskia River. He showed creative skills in his boyhood. Using his inherent innovative skills, knowledge of machines and creativity, Cessna developed new farming methods and improved farm machines.

But Cessna’s interest in airplanes started in 1910 when he witnessed an aerial exhibition in Kansas. The exhibition has influenced him a lot that he would pursue a career in aviation later in his life. From Oklahoma, Cessna transferred to New York to work in Queen Aeroplane Company. It was his first exposure to airplane construction.

Cessna built his first airplane in 1911 and he named it “Silverwing”. Silverwing was a very elegant monoplane. It looked like an American version of Bleriot XI. Cessna modified a 2-stroke, 4-cylinder Elbridge motorboat engine and attached it to Silverwing. The engine has a maximum capacity of 40 hp and runs at 1,050 rpm. When Silverwing was finally completed, Cessna flew its test flight over Great Salt Plains in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma.

His first flight was not very good because it ended in a ground loop. The repairs cost him $100. There were 13 more attempts after this and each one failed. On his thirteenth attempt, his airplane bounced up but crashed into the trees because it failed to turn.

In spite of his failures, Cessna continued with his attempts until his first successful flight in June 1911. His scoffers began to call him “daring hero” and gave him the moniker “Birdman of Enid”. Cessna continued to learn flying. His next significant feat happened in December 1911 when he flew a 5-mile flight.

Because Silverwing was a success, Cessna permanently quit his employment and pursued his interests in aviation. He built several other monoplanes after Silverwing. He purchased a vacant building and turned it into a factory. He opened a pilot school.

After the World War I, Cessna along with friends Lloyd Stearman and Walter Beech, founded the Travel Air Manufacturing Company. Cessna became the company’s president. Travel Air became a leader in aircraft production in the US.

In September 1927, Cessna founded the Cessna Aircraft Corporation. His company produced sports and racing aircrafts along with monoplanes which he has already mastered.

Liz Claiborne: Founder of the First Woman-Founded Company to Make the Fortune 500 List

Liz Claiborne was an entrepreneur and fashion designer more popularly known for being the co-founder of Liz Claiborne Inc. which became the first company established by a woman to make it to the prestigious Fortune 500 in 1986. Claiborne was also the first woman CEO and chairman of a Fortune 500 company.

Claiborne was born in Brussels, Belgium but her parents were Americans. She studied at a boarding school in Maryland named St. Timothy’s. However, Claiborne did not finish high school because her father believed she did not need an education. She just had an informal study on art.

In 1949, Harper’s Bazaar sponsored the Jacques Heim National Design Contest. Claiborne was the contest’s winner. Thereafter, she worked for Garment District in New York as sketch artist for Tina Leser, a sportswear house.

Frustrated with the fashion houses she worked for, Claiborne started her own design company, the Liz Claiborne Inc., in 1976. In two years, her company’s sales grew in leaps and bounds; that is, from $2 million in 1976 to $23 million in 1978. When her company made it to the Fortune 500 in 1986, sales were reported at $1.2 billion.

Claiborne retired in 1989. She died on June 26, 2007 after battling against abdominal cancer. She was 78 at her death.