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S.C. Chamber names Business Leader, Public Servant, Jasper Award recipients

Submitted by: John Warner on Oct 19, 2002 at 5:00 am Tagged with: General Archives Source:

S.C. Chamber names Business Leader, Public Servant, Jasper Award recipients
COLUMBIA , S.C. — M. Edward Sellers will be named the Business Leader of the
Year, Sen. Larry Martin will be honored as the Public Servant of the Year and
retired Army Maj. Gen. R.S. ''Steve'' Siegfried will receive the Sgt. William
Jasper Freedom Award at the Chamber's 23rd Annual Summit November 7-8 at the
Westin Poinsett hotel in Greenville.
Click here for a registration form in Adobe Acrobat
The recipient of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce's Business Leader of
the Year Award is a chief executive officer, or operating head, of a firm doing
business in South Carolina who best fulfills criteria that includes: personal
success; a successful business record based in ethical conduct and corporate
responsibility to employees and the community; public service; contributing to
the preservation of South Carolina's government/business partnership, promoting
and preserving the state's business climate; contributing to the image of South
Carolina as viewed from the state and national levels; corporate
responsibility; and a high level of respect within the business community.
Sellers, is chairman and chief executive officer of Blue Cross Blue Shield of
South Carolina and the Companion group of companies. The corporation's
businesses include health insurance, administrative services contracting,
Medicare intermediary functions, Department of Defense TRICARE intermediary
functions, life insurance, property and casualty insurance, computer
technology, and an HMO. With more than $2 billion in annual revenue, the
company has more than 13,000 employees located in 11 states.
Sellers is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, with a bachelors degree in
physics, and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School. He was formerly with
Westinghouse Electric Corp. and the Boston Consulting Group before becoming
senior vice president of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association in Chicago.
In 1987, he joined the South Carolina insurance company as president and chief
operating officer. He became chief executive officer in 1992 and was named
chairman in March 2001.
Sellers is the former chairman of the South Carolina Chamber Board of Directors
and currently is chairman of the Board of Trustees at Columbia College, the
Palmetto Business Forum, and the Palmetto Conservation Foundation. He also
serves on the boards of the ETV Endowment, United Way of the Midlands, Spoleto
Festival, and the newly formed Palmetto Institute, a non-profit group founded
to close the gap in the state's per capita personal income.
The winner of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce's Public Servant of the
Year Award is someone who served or serves as a key official in the South
Carolina state government.
Martin, 45, is chairman of the Senate Rules Committee and also serves on the
Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, the Banking and Insurance
Committee, the Judiciary Committee and the General Committee.
When he began his third Senate term in November 2000, Martin became the longest
serving member of the General Assembly in the history of Pickens County. Prior
to his election to the Senate, Martin served in the South Carolina House of
Representatives from 1978 until 1992. When he was first elected to the House,
he was 21 years old.
In 1989, Martin moved to the Republican Party and was re-elected to the House
in 1990 as a member of the GOP. After seven terms in the House, Martin ran for
the South Carolina Senate and was elected in 1992. He was actively involved in
the reorganization of the South Carolina Senate for the session that began in
January 2001.
Martin was born and raised in the Dacusville Community of Pickens County. He
was educated in the local schools, was an honor graduate from Pickens High
School and attended Tri-County Technical College. He has been associated with
Alice Manufacturing in Easley for more than 20 years as director of safety.
On October 17, 2001, Gov. Jim Hodges appointed Siegfried to serve as Special
Advisor to the Governor for Homeland Security and chairman of the newly created
Governor's Security Council.
Siegfried served in the United States Army for over 34 years. From December
1991 to March 1994, he served as the Commanding General of Fort Jackson in
Columbia. From 1994 to 1995, Siegfried served as the Army's Inspector General.
Following his retirement in 1995, the Secretary of the Army recalled him to
active duty in 1996 to chair the Senior Review Panel on Sexual Harassment.
Siegfried led the panel in conducting a global assessment of the Army's human
relations environment. Since his second retirement from the Army in 1997,
Siegfried has worked as a consultant and has provided training services in
leadership development and the prevention of sexual harassment in the
workplace.
Siegfried is a native of Elizabeth City, N.C., and a graduate of the University
of Alabama with a bachelor's degree in business and a master's in industrial
management.
The Public Servant of the Year and Business Leader of the Year awards will be
presented at the Annual Summit Banquet on Thursday night.
Charlie Cook and Stuart Rothenburg, two of Washington's best-known political
analysts, will give the keynote address at the banquet.
On Friday morning, the Summit Breakfast will feature the presentation of the
Sgt. William Jasper Freedom Award and the Ron McNair Leadership Award, which
will be presented to Tenise Bell of Silver Bluff High School in Aiken.
For more information on registering for the Summit, call the S.C. Chamber at
1-800-799-4601 or (803) 799-4601. You can also register on-line at
www.scchamber.net.
The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce is the state's largest statewide
broad-based business and industry trade association representing more than
2,300 members. It works actively to maintain the state's positive business
climate while working to enhance the quality of life for all South Carolinians.
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