Epstein earned his degree after serving in the Army. His career began in insurance, then he founded and operated Risktech, an independent risk management consulting firm. He served as CEO until his retirement in 1991.

Stevens served in the Air Force after graduation, then became a CPA. He worked for Arthur Anderson, then in 1999 became managing partner of accounting firm Stevens & Matthews. He previously served as a Regent of the Texas A&M University System.

Mariott began her career in the banking industry, and now owns GCM Designs, a design, build and remodeling firm. She served on the Texas Residential Construction Commission and on the board of the Association of Former Students, where she was the first female chair.

The annual award is reserved for alumni who have made significant contributions to their professions, their local communities and Texas A&M University, and is the highest honor a former student can receive.

“Each one of our 2013 Distinguished Alumni is a true inspiration as they serve as outstanding examples of the impact that Aggies can have on their alma mater, their communities, and the world,” said The Association of Former Students’ 2013 Chair of the Board of Directors David Heath ’76. “They all share the same deep commitment to Texas A&M and epitomize our core values of excellence, integrity, leadership, loyalty, respect and selfless service.”

The association will honor all of the recipients at the annual Distinguished Alumni Gala on Oct. 18 and will also recognize them at the Oct. 19 Texas A&M football game against Auburn.

A detailed profile of all the recipients is available at http://www.aggienetwork.com/DistinguishedAlumni/

Robert A. Epstein, Class of 1944

R. H. “Steve” Stevens, Jr., Class of 1962

Glenda C. Mariott, Class of 1979

About Mays Business School

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,000 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.

Rodney Faldyn ’88, CEO/President of
Academy Sports + Outdoors, with wife Karen

Faldyn says the company’s goal is to be a nationally recognized, regionally relevant and locally merchandised sports, outdoor and lifestyle store. “The market for sporting goods and outdoor gear changes every 100 miles, and we stay on top of that.” With sales projected to exceed $4 billion in 2014 and 21,000 store associates, the company seems to be on the right track.

Faldyn described during his lecture at Mays Business School how his years at Texas A&M University, where he received an accounting degree, prepared him for his career in more ways than one. His juggled a rigorous academic schedule with a job as an assistant manager at a retail store. “I don’t think I could do my role as a manager now if I had not put in that time.”

He says he also learned from the failure of the company he worked for back then – Furrow Building Materials. “So many companies lose touch with the changing consumer landscape and they don’t make adjustments they need to, so they get left behind,” he says, naming other businesses such as Linens ’n Things and Circuit City.

Before his promotion to CEO of Academy, Faldyn was president and chief financial officer of the company. Prior to Academy, he worked at N.F. Smith & Associates, a privately-held international electronics distributor. He spent eight years at Enron Corp. in several capacities, including vice president in international finance, chief accounting officer for a publicly-held subsidiary and vice president in accounting. Prior to that, he spent eight years at Deloitte & Touche LLP, working in the energy, wholesale trade and construction sectors.

The annual M.B. Zale Visionary Merchant Lecture Series hosted by the Center for Retailing Studies (CRS) highlights the role of innovative merchandising in the success of retail businesses. M.B. Zale was a legendary retailer, visionary merchant and esteemed philanthropist. Past recipients of the Zale award represented companies ranging from Walmart to Crate and Barrel to Build-A-Bear Workshop.

Faldyn’s lecture concluded an invitation-only conference for retail executives, the Center for Retailing Studies’ annual Retail Sponsor Forum. Speakers for the one-day event included Mays faculty members and industry experts who addressed topics such as showrooming, supply chain security, shelf-space allocation and motivating employees for top performance.

Center director Cheryl Holland Bridges said the CRS at Mays has helped prepare thousands of Aggies for careers in retailing. As she introduced Faldyn, she added, “You all are going to have your interest piqued in retailing. If so, come see us at the center on the second floor.”

Mays Dean Jerry Strawser said Faldyn differed from many speakers in that he is involved in an area of retail that directly impacts the students’ lives. The company that started as an Army surplus store now has 159 stores in 13 states, and is still expanding.

“Our culture is very similar to the culture at Texas A&M: friendly, energetic, the highest integrity, respectful and based on family values,” Faldyn says. “We strive to bring active families what they need to stay active.”

Faldyn and his wife live in Houston with four 16-year-olds – two sets of twins they each brought to their marriage.

About Mays Business School

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,000 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.

Anthony DeLuca ’84

DeLuca, who received a bachelor’s in accounting from Texas A&M University in 1984, urged a group of Mays Business School undergraduates to secure internships, even if they are not required.

“That should be your first job, to begin looking for an internship in August or September of the school year,” he said, advising them to find meaningful opportunities, not just “resume fillers.” “You not only get good experience, but you also get to try things, some of which you think you’ll really like but then find out you really don’t care for. It has been a career saver for some people.”

DeLuca joined two others at SCF in 1992, and most of their current investors have been affiliated with company since the beginning. He attributes the company’s success to its focus on one industry. The firm has built and sold 50 platform companies, has eight companies in its current portfolio, has made more than 300 acquisitions and has a total transfer value of more than $10 billion. “On average, for 24 years we have bought a new company every three weeks. It is a very busy, actively engaged firm,” DeLuca describes.

In the beginning, the investment team members had no job titles, they just did what was necessary, DeLuca recalled. Now there are 22 people working for the firm, of which about half work on the transactions. “We used to require our new people to have experience in energy,” he explained. “Now we want people who are excited about energy and willing to learn.”

Tania Sustaita ’14, a Business Honors and accounting major, said she benefitted from DeLuca’s advice to learn how to take constructive criticism, and to realize from the start that employers do not expect you to do things perfectly. “No one likes to deal with people that cannot accept their mistakes or feedback that they are wrong,” Sustaita said.

Alex Washington ’13, a Business Honors and finance major, said she enjoyed hearing Deluca discuss how he moved from a career at Arthur Anderson to the private equity arena. “I really have not had very much exposure to private equity, so I learned a lot about platform companies and how to combine those for competitive advantages,” she said.

About Mays Business School

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,000 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.

Veronica Bahena

When she did start thinking about college her junior year of high school, Bahena says the process seemed complicated and the school too expensive.

That year she met Officer Javier Hernandez, who had started an organization in the Manor school district to help young Latinos reach their full potential as middle school and high school students. “He changed my life,” Bahena says of Hernandez and the Latino Leaders of America. In LLA, students attend regular meetings and get the opportunity to meet Hispanic leaders, such as Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo. Recently, the group visited College Station to learn about life as a student at Texas A&M.

“The LLA has a very clear mission: empowering students,” says Henry Musoma, a professor of Veronica’s in Mays Business School who helped organize the LLA’s trip to Texas A&M. “They help students to see the possibilities, not the limitations.”

A large part of what Bahena learned from the LLA was to be proud of her heritage, and to prevent any potential stigmas from holding her back. “The LLA focuses on teaching you about your culture, and that’s how you start,” explains Bahena. “You start building yourself up to where you know your background and you know where you came from, and you’re not afraid to say, ‘Yes I’m Mexican, and I can do more than just working in construction or cleaning restrooms or working in a restaurant.’ It gave me the idea that I can be a Latina who can make an impact in my community and be a role model for the younger girls.”

Once Bahena had built up confidence in herself and her heritage, she started taking the necessary steps to prepare herself for college. She says she decided to challenge herself and started taking a full load of AP classes. Her GPA dropped at first, she says, but she was able to bring it back up. Bahena graduated 12th out of 222 in her class, and admits if she had continued to take easier classes, she might have been able to graduate higher, but said “it wouldn’t have been the same feeling to graduate in the top 10 percent knowing that I didn’t fully challenge myself.”

Now at Texas A&M, Bahena continues to challenge herself as a member of the Corps of Cadets. Women make up about 10 percent of the Corps, making Bahena a double minority.

At times when things get rough and an easier life seems attractive, Bahena reminds herself she has to be a voice for women in the Corps. She says her sergeant also tells her that over the next few years she has the opportunity to be a leader for the incoming classes of women in the Corps. Bahena is also a Regents Scholar, which is reserved for students whose parents do not hold four-year degrees and whose income is below a certain threshold.

“Her drive is strong,” Hernandez says of Bahena. “There’s nothing that’s going to stop her from reaching her goals.”

Though Bahena is currently undecided in her major, she is very much aware of what she wants to do with whatever degree she gets. “The point of coming to college is to create an impact in the community, not just for ourselves,” Bahena says. “I want to be a part of a corporation that is helping in the community.”

Bahena is already making an impact. Last semester she met with girls on the soccer team from her high school who aren’t members of the LLA, and she is working with Hernandez to possibly set up something over the summer to share what she learned in the LLA. Bahena also says she wants to talk to girls at the middle-school level, because she believes that is where the desire to go to college should first be cultivated.

“Everything I’m doing right now, I’m doing for them,” says Bahena of the younger members of the LLA. “From my perspective, everybody’s smart; you just have to want it and be determined to get it. Don’t let anybody tell you you’re not smart or you can’t do it, because you can.”

About Mays Business School

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,000 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.

Davis, who received an accounting degree from Mays, already knows what it takes to be successful and how to give back. He and his wife contributed to the new Becky ’76 and Monty ’77 Davis Player Development Center near Kyle Field.

Monty Davis ’77, COO of Core Laboratories

“I want you to be successful, and I want you to help others after you’ve been successful,” Davis said to students, referring to giving back to the university.

The ability to make decisions was one of the attributes for success Davis emphasized, along with being able to communicate clearly. “Be willing to express your opinion and have confidence. Nobody wants a yes-man working for them.”

Davis offered advice not only from the employee’s perspective, but also from the employer’s perspective.

“Always respect your employees,” he advised. “You never know where somebody else is going to end up. An employee today could become a customer tomorrow.”

Davis also touched on success in life, saying it starts with determining what is important to him. For him, family is number one. He showed students a small journal he keeps in his briefcase, in the back of which he keeps two lists of goals, one for his personal life for the year and one for business. He said he picked up the idea from a management class, and he encouraged students to do the same, and to track their performance against their goals.

“You’re not going to reach all of your goals,” Davis says. “If you do, you’re not setting good enough goals.”

Emily Neubert ’15, a business honors and MIS major, said she enjoyed hearing Davis’s insights about how to succeed in business, as well as in life. “He shared how being flexible and moving overseas helped advance his career quickly, so he recommended that we consider working abroad for a couple years.”

Monty Davis ’77’s top attributes for success

• Intelligence
• Education
• Effort, ability to work under pressure
• Initiative – “You can’t go to a job and just do what’s asked; that’s not enough.”
• Discernment, ability to make decisions
• Ability to express yourself
• Results oriented – “It’s not a matter of getting work done, it’s a matter of working to achieve a result.”
• Responsible, dependable
• Integrity – “In business and in your life; if you don’t have integrity you’ll never get anywhere.”

About Mays Business School

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,000 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.

Jay Graham ’92 and Anthony Bahr ’91

The duo started the oil and gas production company – named WildHorse after a creek running through Graham’s family’s ranch in Oklahoma – in April 2007 after securing funding from one of their former petroleum engineering professors and a big name in the oil and gas industry, Pete Huddleston. Shortly after founding, WildHorse partnered with one of the premier energy private equity firms to increase their capital and support the company’s aggressive growth plans.

“A lot of it was being associated with the right people,” describes Graham, President and Managing Partner.

“We were blessed early on with a lot of help from a lot of people,” added Bahr, CEO and Managing Partner. “This [Aggie] ring will open a lot of doors for you.”

Long before Graham and Bahr were looking for funding, they were preparing for futures as entrepreneurs. They knew they wanted to own a business one day, no matter the industry, so they prepared by taking different jobs in the oil and gas industry to learn the variety of skills necessary to run a business.

“Think about where you want to go,” Graham told students about choosing a job. He cautioned students against jumping on the highest-paying job offer. “It’s easy to get hung up on money, but get hung up on your future.”

Bahr agrees, saying he sees a lot of short-term thinking from college graduates and interns. Bahr experienced the consequences of short-term thinking first-hand when the company first started to take off and the number of employees jumped from four to almost 30 in a few short weeks.

“I was looking for warm bodies walking through the front door,” he says of how he handled hiring people while trying to staff up to handle the company’s first large acquisition. Bahr says not taking care to hire the right people was a mistake; they had people, but they weren’t the right people for WildHorse. “Good people are worth what you pay them, but great people are worth a lot more than what you’re paying them.”

They urged students wanting to start a business to choose a partner wisely. The two say part of what makes their partnership great is how well they compliment each other, both in personality and skills, and credit a lot of their success to the dynamics of their partnership. “Together, we can get a lot more done than we do apart,” says Bahr.

Casey Gattshall ’15, business honors major, says the biggest point the pair made was the importance of thoroughly understanding the area of business you go into, especially if trying to start a business. “Being a person interested in entrepreneurship, this advice really spoke to me.”

Almost six years after starting their business, Graham and Bahr are hugely successful for a private, independent company in the oil and gas industry, closing 12 acquisitions since 2007 totaling $900 million and now operating with an annual capital budget in excess of $200 million. They are anticipating almost $1 billion worth of acquisitions in 2013.

With about 85 employees, WildHorse has grown tremendously in a short time, but Bahr and Graham haven’t lost perspective. “Bottom line, you need to remember what a company is,” says Bahr. “A company is nothing more than a group of people. You need to be able to motivate them.”

About Mays Business School

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,000 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.

“I feel as though our Business Honors graduates can compete with the likes of those coming from Harvard and Yale. I want to do all I can to help our students and faculty feel equipped for any comparisons nationally.”

Taseer Badar ’95, CEO of ZT Wealth

Badar says he and his wife Zohra were eager to honor his mother in this way. “All my family has science background – doctors of nuclear medicine and engineering – so when I chose a different path, they were concerned that I was going to go hungry. But my mother believed in me, and I am tied to the health field from a different perspective.”

Badar moved to the U.S. from Lahore, Pakistan, at 11 months old, and says he has been “living the American dream” since. He got his first work experience mowing lawns in his hometown of Humble, Texas, and received a bachelor’s degree in management from Texas A&M. He now has 800 employees as president and CEO of ZT Wealth, which provides equity offerings in the health care, global commercial and residential real estate markets, and co-founder of Altus Healthcare Management Services. He has also developed several medical centers.

As a leader of numerous companies, Badar has received 18 Aggie 100 awards, which are given to the fastest-growing Aggie-owned companies.

“To establish an endowed scholarship at such a young age speaks highly of Taseer’s success and his generosity,” said Mays Dean Jerry Strawser. “Not only will our students benefit from his financial gift, but also from the opportunity to meet and know a great entrepreneur.”

Badar says his mentor is Ghulam Bombaywala, who has owned 80-something restaurants. “I really want to compete with the Ernst & Youngs, the top national firms. I want to produce high returns. I want us to be #1 and I want to bring a lot of good people with me.”

About Mays Business School

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,000 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.

His hard work and dedication helped make his family’s company more successful than ever between 2002 and 2007, helping the company to grow by almost 200 percent and 400 employees, making Yantis one of the largest private companies in the greater San Antonio area. Yantis said that for a long time he said yes to whatever work came his way, part of how he helped get so much done, but learned that sometimes no is the better answer.

Mike Yantis Jr. ’02, CEO of Yantis Company

“You overcommit yourself and you end up just running in circles,” Yantis says about saying yes all of the time. At the end of one week Yantis realized he had only spent about five hours at his desk doing actual work, and knew he had to learn to delegate better. “I would just caution you to focus on what’s actually going to help you along. Don’t do things at the expense of your goals.”

Yantis warned students against other mistakes like over-diversifying a company, rushing into deals that seem too good to be true without doing research, and letting things get personal between you and other employees and with competitors.

“Not everybody’s going to like you,” Yantis says about getting out into the work force. “At the end of the day you don’t need to let it drive you crazy or make it something that you worry about all the time. If there’s business to be done, business is business.”

The only thing that Yantis recommends making personal is communication. “The thing you have to remember about e-mails is that they live forever,” says Yantis about today’s preferred method of work communication. “Tone is really hard in e-mails, so people take e-mails the wrong way sometimes. If you’ve got something bad to say to somebody, or something negative, do it face to face.”

His advice stems partly from his experience of having old e-mails he had sent used during litigation in a lawsuit Yantis Company brought against a competitor several years back. Yantis says sometimes when you receive a negative e-mail, it is easy to get caught up in an online battle, but you have to hold yourself back.

Most importantly, Yantis says, he wanted students to realize part of being successful means making mistakes along the way. He wanted to share some of his mistakes and how he dealt with them so the students could learn how to deal with certain situations.

Dominic Odom ’15, a Business Honors major, says the visit with Yantis taught him about how construction in and around the San Antonio area works, and how complicated the bidding process is. “The main takeaway that Mr. Yantis imparted onto me is that business need not be a personal thing,” Odom says. “Feeling slighted is a good way to lose perspective on a job.”

About Mays Business School

Texas A&M University’s Mays Business School educates more than 5,000 undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students in accounting, finance, management, management information systems, marketing and supply chain management. Mays consistently ranks among the top public business schools in the country for its undergraduate and MBA programs, and for faculty research. The mission of Mays Business School is creating knowledge and developing ethical leaders for a global society.

Roy Spence, author of It’s Not What You Sell, It’s What You Stand For, emphasized that to survive, companies must be driven by purpose.

Culture and branding were common themes at the 2012 Retailing Summit conference hosted by Mays Business School’s Center for Retailing Studies in October.

Southwest Airlines puts people first

Southwest Airlines, for instance, is not in the transportation business. Instead, it gives people the freedom to fly and democratize the skies. Great companies offer customers more than quality products or services, they commit to improving the lives of their customers, says Ginger Hardage, Senior Vice President of Culture and Communication at Southwest, the nation’s largest domestic airline. Its fleet of 700 aircrafts serves 100 million customers annually.

Ginger Hardage, Senior Vice President of Culture and Communication at Southwest, told conference attendees that great companies commit to improving the lives of their customers.

By putting people first and treating customers like family, the low-cost airline has built an edgy brand, elevating it to 10th on Fortune’s “most admired companies” list. Hardage says maverick marketing and promotion played a key role in differentiating Southwest Airlines. In an industry plagued by bankruptcies, bag fees, bad press and overall passenger frustration, Southwest has remained profitable for 39 consecutive years by valuing people (customers and employees), nurturing its culture and changing ahead of the times to remain relevant for the ever-evolving consumer.

Companies must personalize relationships with customers

GameStop’s Jenn McMillen described the $10 billion dollar retailer’s culture as “irreverent.” Journeys CEO Jim Estepa said the teen footwear chain must always “be cool” and embrace diversity. Toys“R”Us, Inc. Vice President of HR Kelly O’Neill labeled his employees “brand ambassadors.” Together, they demonstrated the many diverse ways companies define, cultivate and communicate brand promise and inspirational customer experiences.

In 2010 McMillen launched GameStop’s PowerUp loyalty program. In 23 months, more than 20 million customers signed up for the rewards program. By capturing and analyzing customer purchase information, GameStop personalizes promotions, engages members through “love it/hate it” game evaluations, excites buyers through game reservations, and better drives new sales, pre-owned sales and trades. A PowerUp member who interacts with GameStop through all four of these customer experience options is worth $8x in annual sales what a non-loyalty member who shops one channel, such as only buying used games. This successful program makes GameStop very data rich and able to target and reward customers.

Changing the way people shop

While GameStop’s market share and roster of 6,000 stores surprised many audience members, most attendees had shopped the members-only e-commerce site, Gilt Groupe. Co-founder Alexandra Wilkis-Wilson recapped the luxury flash sale site’s early days, saying, “We didn’t have a business plan when we launched.” With experience and valuable contacts from her work at Louis Vuitton and Bulgari, Wilkis teamed with other Harvard grads and engineers to put sample sale merchandise in the hands of consumers. This mix of knowledge was vital to the business’s execution and the ultimate success of the start-up.

Gilt Groupe has changed the way people shop. Each day members receive highly customized promotional emails based on past purchases, click-through history, gender and zip code. By effectively using data, Gilt personalizes customer interaction with the brand. Gilt also made heavy early investment in its mobile application, which is now faster than the traditional web platform. This further connects Gilt to its affluent, on-trend customer base. In fact, Gilt has only run one print ad in the last five years. Instead it relies on events, public style influencers, social media and word of mouth for customer acquisition.

Fun is needed in business

Teen shoe retailer Journeys builds customer relationships through numerous “cool” events, including the annual Backyard BBQ Tour concerts. By hosting top bands, extreme sports exhibitions, and skateboard competitions, Journeys stays relevant to an ever-finicky young customer through music and unique experiences.

Toys“R”Us Vice President of HR Kelly O’Neill (left) spoke about his company’s focus on being serious about fun.

Jim Estepa says the Journeys executive team surrounds themselves with teenagers and young people to stay current with trends, lifestyles and youth culture. Many of the chain’s 1,200 stores are staffed and managed by associates under 20, which energizes the stores. Journeys celebrates and rewards “attitude” among employees through incentive compensation, recognition programs, manager meetings and amazing vacations for top performers.

At Toys“R”Us, engaged employees value bringing joy to children and families. As the world’s leading toy retailer, Toys“R”Us attracts positive people who play to win, but are serious about fun. Kelly O’Neill proposed his department members “are the drivers of the employment brand. Through video, photos, social networks, print and surveys, they communicate that kids are at the heart of the business.”

O’Neill bluntly stated, “We must hire nice, fun people because that’s not something you can teach.” Toys“R”Us’ charity work helps attract people who fit the brand. The company is the largest corporate supporter of Autism Speaks and Alex’s Lemonade Stand, which funds children’s cancer research. They help military personnel celebrate life milestones through gifts, toys, and even baby shower presents no matter where they are deployed worldwide. This consistent and cultivated employment brand message results in high team retention.

Eliminating customer pain points

Retail marketing maverick Jim McIngvale, founder and CEO of Gallery Furniture, reviewed key tenets that drive his business, including:

1. Create real value.
2. Don’t sell, help customers buy.
3. Retailing should be entertaining.
4. Micromanage on behalf of the customer.
5. Retail is about emotion.

Gallery Furniture founder and CEO Jim McIngvale stressed the importance of eliminating “anything that stands between the customer and your company.”

McIngvale recounted how his team prejudged a customer as either not ready or unable to buy. After feeling ignored, she showed McIngvale, who is ever-present in the store, her purse filled with $20,000 in cash. Whether his customers seek the perfect night’s sleep on a $30,000 mattress or to furnish a living room for less than a $1,000 with bargain tent finds, each customer deserves respect.

He shared Gallery Furniture’s commitment to eliminating customer pain points which he defined as “anything that stands between the customer and your company.” The top complaints for his store related to a poor delivery experience. Customers hated receiving dinged-up dining sets and scratched settees. They resented four-hour delivery waits, and worried over welcoming burly men, who offered more brawn than beauty, into their homes. Today, Gallery Furniture applies higher employment screening practices; its drivers wear recognizable company uniforms; and GPS chips monitor trucks, texting customers updates with the exact time their merchandise left the warehouse and when it will arrive at their doorstep.

Create social value in shopping

The Maritz Institute shared its philosophy on “the social life of brands.” The default system of the human brain is “social.” Human beings are social creatures. While most marketers understand the need to create functional and emotional value, businesses are just learning how important it is to create social value though experiences and interaction.

“When a brand makes you feel special and strives to make your life better, in contrast to simply trying to get more share-of-wallet, then social value is created” says Maritz Institute Director Marybeth McEuen. “And social value, at its pinnacle, is created when you join a brand community because you identify with the purpose and ideals of the brand. Great companies like Starbucks and Method understand this type of social value.”

H-E-B is the largest corporate giver to non-profits in Texas. The 340-store chain focuses on putting people and communities first. Its leadership practices “relentless dissatisfaction,” meaning that if they are not working every day to help customers and improve the shopping experience, then they are not satisfied.

Craig Boyan, H-E-B president and COO, reviewed historical fact that the American consumer today has far less discretionary income and far more debt than past generations. With wallets thinner, H-E-B promises low prices to help customers save and live better. While labor costs often top retailers’ expenses, Boyan urged the audience not to race to the bottom with wages, but instead raise them and hire great people. Finally, H-E-B is a multi-format retailer. Boyan noted that his discount stores, such as Joe V’s and Mi Tienda, and high-income stores, like Central Market and H-E-B Plus, are growing the quickest. This reflects the increasing gap between rich and poor in Texas.

As GSD&M’s chief advertising leader for retailers for 30 years, Roy Spence concluded by offering the following recommendations for the retail leaders attending the Summit:

• Retailer leaders have a job to do. To enrich the lives of their customers they must do business with purpose.
• They must practice the Golden Rule.
• Leaders fess up when they mess up.
• They don’t find common ground, they find higher ground.
• Retailers are best when they are in the service of others.

To the 30 students in the audience – likely the next generation of industry leaders – he said:

• Be curious.
• Think.
• Stay humble.
• Stay hungry.
• Help those who help you.

Each year, the Aggie 100 program recognizes the 100 fastest-growing Aggie-owned or Aggie-led businesses in the world.

The companies recognized this year reported a combined revenue of $18.2 billion – the highest in the eight years the program has existed. The top recipient was Navidad Resources, an independent oil and gas company founded in Tyler in 1992. It reported 206.14 percent growth. CEO and president Harold E. McGowen III ’82 said he was honored to be on the list with the other 99 companies. “You are some of the smartest and most capable people in the country,” he said. “These companies are created by men and women who inspire others to exceptional achievement.”

This year’s group included 40 newcomers, and eight of the recipients have been on the Aggie 100 list at least five times.

The key to the companies’ success is the entrepreneurial spirit, several of the speakers commented. “You people had the vision – in fact, the courage – to take some chances that most people wouldn’t take,” said Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin. “You’re here today because you were persistent and also successful. We applaud you. We think you embody the true spirit of Aggieland.”

Keynote speaker Dan Moran, an Aggie and former Marine whose Houston company funds veterans’ start-up companies, summed it up this way: “Aggie entrepreneurs never, ever, ever give up.” He called entrepreneurs “ the backbone of the economy… You’re going to get us back on track.”

The inaugural Summit Award, created to recognize the large-corporation Aggie 100 applicant with the highest average revenue, was given to Houston-based Oil States International. CEO Cindy B. Taylor ’84, who received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Mays, said her company is approaching $4 billion in growth this year. Taylor, one of the 2011 Mays Outstanding Alumni, is the mother of three Texas A&M students.

About Aggie 100

The Aggie 100 identifies, recognizes and celebrates the 100 fastest growing Aggie-owned or Aggie-led businesses in the world. The Aggie 100 not only celebrates their success, it also provides a forum to pass lessons to the next generation of Aggie entrepreneurs.

One-of-a-kind at the college level, the Aggie 100 was created by Mays Business School’s Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship. The center provides encouragement, education, networking and assistance to entrepreneurially minded students, faculty and Texas businesses.

Each year, Aggie 100 honorees are invited to campus for celebrations that includes an evening networking reception with fellow honorees and special guests from Texas A&M University, speaking engagements with Texas A&M students, breakfast with the deans of their colleges and an awards luncheon where the rankings are announced.

To be considered for the Aggie 100 program, companies (corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships) must have been in business for at least five years and have had verifiable revenues of $250,000 or more for calendar year 2009.

The full list of 2012 recipients is available at aggie100.com/Aggie100Archives/2012/2012List.