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Kyle Petty, Petty Enterprises
 
Growing up in racing is always an advantage if you want to win in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition, but when you grow up in Level Cross, North Carolina, and your father is casually referred to as "The King,” the expectations for your career jump tremendously. Kyle Petty was able to productively use his family business, and to take advantage of his incredible driving talents and people skills to build a winning driving resume and rebuild a racing business that has been the most successful in the history of motorsports.

Today, as CEO of Petty Enterprises, Petty remains a fixture at his family-owned business.  A proven winner, Petty stays focused and determined to keep Petty Enterprises at the forefront of the motorsports world, and in 2008 he again sits behind the wheel of the No. 45 Dodge. Kyle is also an analyst for TNT’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race coverage, and a regular panelist for SPEED’s weekly program Tradin’ Paint.
 
More information about Kyle Petty
Ever since he was a young boy, Petty has been around racetracks, stock cars, and drivers of the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit.  His father, Richard Petty, is the most successful driver in the history of the sport, while his grandfather, Lee Petty, was one of the most successful pioneers of NASCAR racing.  It comes to no one's surprise that Kyle Petty's first time in a major league stock car race he crossed the finish line first, winning the 1979 Daytona ARCA 200.  Winning races is just what the Petty’s do, and now Kyle Petty is leading the charge to a newer, stronger, better Petty Enterprises for years to come.

A man with eight victories on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit, Petty knows what it takes to be a winner. Having begun his career working for Petty Enterprises, and later running motorsports' most successful team, Petty has also driven for such successful car owners as the Wood Brothers and Felix Sabates, learning the "do's and don'ts" of NASCAR Sprint Cup competition.  In 1997 Petty opened pe2, and experienced first hand what it was like to be a car owner.  Collecting two top-fives and nine top-10s in his first year as a car owner, Petty was moving to a new level in the business at Petty Enterprises, while at the same time staying a fierce competitor on the track.  At the end of the 1998 season, Petty packed his bags - and everybody else's bags too - moving back home to become the CEO at Petty Enterprises and continue his driving career where it started.

The 2006 season, highlighted by three prominent hires, saw Petty Enterprises turn the proverbial “corner” to rise back to the ranks of stock car racing’s elite, putting the No. 45 car back into the top-35 in owner points. If 2006 was a season of change for Petty, then 2007 will be one of progression.  The resurgence of Petty and the legendary Petty Enterprises race team was, no doubt, one of the bright spots from the 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season.  The surrounding cast that Petty has assembled on the No. 45 crew has allowed the team to set even loftier goals.  The brass ring that is Victory Lane is as close as it has been in quite sometime for Petty.
 
 
Jeff Grant, TRIO Display
 

Jeff Grant comes from three generations of shopfitters. Both his father and grandfather were in the shopfitting trade and the family’s history in the display business dates back to 1925, Jeff himself has been actively involved in designing, equipping, and building retail projects since 1978.

Jeff has worked on projects with high profile specialty retailers including Disney, Universal Studios, RMS Titanic, the United States Olympic Committee, and numerous professional sports teams including the Yankees, Dodgers, Angels, and Bears, however his specialty

is helping small retailers of all types maximize their investment when planning and building their stores.
 
Jeff is the author of "The Budget Guide to Store Planning and Design" and is a principal in TRIO Display. Jeff lives in San Diego, California, travels extensively and works with over 1000 merchants a year designing stores, providing retail fixtures and displays and dispensing advice, ideas, and suggestions.
 
 
Josh Maxwell, Ellison Research
 

Josh Maxwell serves as the Director of Research for Ellison Research, a full service marketing research firm based in Phoenix, Arizona. Josh currently directs both quantitative and qualitative research projects through a collaborative process with clients.

Josh works with a variety of clients on quantitative research projects. He works with clients to design and implement projects which includes survey research design, sampling methodology, data analysis, and comprehensive reporting.

His quantitative training includes sufficient methodological skills and data analysis techniques, including regression analysis, multiple regression, maximum likelihood estimation, and formal modeling. These analytical techniques allow corporations to make accurate quantitative projections, among other opportunities.

Josh also collaboratively works with clients on qualitative research projects, including focus groups and one-on-one in-depth interviews. He is a RIVA certified focus group moderator. By regularly working with clients on qualitative type projects, Josh gains unique insights into consumer segments, which are subsequently explored by clients to gain competitive advantages.

Prior to joining Ellison Research, Josh worked in the non-profit sector for a non-partisan think-tank in the Phoenix metro area. He was the survey researcher on staff, conducting public policy research through qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The research was used by state and local legislators, municipal leaders, and the media.

Josh holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Arizona and a Master of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis. While in graduate school, he had several papers accepted at major national conferences, in addition to furthering his interest in teaching undergraduates. He currently lives in Phoenix.

 
 

Beth Krodel, Insight Designs Web Solutions, LLC
 

Beth Krodel is a founding partner of Insight Designs Web Solutions, LLC, a Boulder, Colorado-based website design and development firm that has been creating custom sites since 1999.

Beth, 36, has helped craft more than 250 websites for clients ranging from well-known brands such as Pepsi, Spyder and Sierra Designs to high-profile academic institutions including Johns Hopkins University and Duke University and influential non-profits such as the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) and the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT).

Prior to starting Insight Designs, Beth worked as an award-winning reporter and editor for the Detroit Free Press, USA Today, Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune and Boulder Daily Camera.

A native of Snow Hill, North Carolina, Beth earned a B.A. in Public Policy Studies from Duke University. She is married and has two children. She loves to travel, hike, and snowboard. And she does most of her shopping online.
 
 

Pete Webb, Webb PR
 

Give him a name; he’ll come up with the phone number.  In addition to being “the boss”, Pete Webb, founder and principal of Webb PR, is a walking, talking telephone book.

Webb’s firm won Colorado’s 2005 Grand Gold Pick Award for the top public relations work generated by a Colorado firm and he was also named by the Denver Business Journal’s 2005, 2006 and 2007 Power Books as one of the 10 business newsmakers in Denver’s media industry.  He is also currently the chair of the national marketing committee for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation.

Like most in his office, Webb comes from strong media lineage – 13 years as an award-winning investigative television reporter in five major markets.  But, in 1981, Pete left the news business and joined the ranks of public relations as vice president of one of Denver’s most recognized PR firms.  Six years later he opened his one-man office.

Today, Webb PR has a staff of 10.  Pete’s responsibilities have expanded to include mentoring and managing a talented and motivated client services team.  He still gets involved in strategy and planning for all his clients, but he has also become known for his willingness to tackle tough assignments such as corporate readiness and crisis management, labor negotiations, environmental spills, water rights, food safety issues and the introduction of gaming in Colorado.  He was trained by FEMA in Integrated Emergency Management at its training facility in Emmitsburg, MD. in order to better counsel his crisis clients. 

His ability to herd cats came in handy during the firm’s management of media logistics during the opening of Denver International Airport, one of the largest public projects in the world, drawing international media.  In working for engineering firms, he’s been involved in laying out water pipelines, closing gold mines, opening superhighways and siting power plants. 

Pete has engineered strategy for large state contracts such as the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) and the Colorado Lottery. He is particularly proud of the “Heat Is On” DUI enforcement campaign developed for CDOT.  The award-winning program was the most effective public education effort in Colorado history, increasing arrests and reducing DUI-related fatalities by 23% within the target audience. 

Whether it’s opening a brewery (Anheuser-Busch in Fort Collins, Colorado), launching Cricket Comfortable Wireless and Powerball in the same year in Colorado, heading up a launch at the 2003 Consumer Electronics Show, or buying sports teams (the St. Louis Blues, the Kiel Center and the Vancouver Grizzlies), Pete has been a trusted strategist and advisor.

Pete believes in using his talents to serve the community, and is the chairman of the South Metro Fire Rescue District, and serves as a director for the Special District Association of Colorado.  He is a former president of the Colorado Film Commission, where he served for seven years, and a former president of the Arapahoe Community College Foundation.   

Pete has spearheaded work in virtually every market nationwide.  His amazingly wide ranging communications talents – from marketing and crisis management to media training and public affairs – is reflected in his firm’s impressively broad client base.  All seek his counsel.  

Pete balances his full workload by tinkering with his antique ’49 Ford/Pirsch fire engine on weekends and traveling several times a year, to places that are warm.  Eventually, those warm places may draw him away from public relations and to an island in the Caribbean and a small fleet of charter sailboats.  If you’re interested in a cruise, you may just want to give him your name and phone number now.  He won’t forget it.
 
 
Dr. Steven Olson, The Parlor Billiards & Spirits
 

The Parlor Billiards & Spirits at Lincoln Square at the Bellevue Collection opened on December 13, 2005, an entertainment Mecca, at 20,000 square feet, costing 5 million dollars. The third floor space at Lincoln Square, the newest addition to the Bellevue Collection, overlooks the epicenter of the City of Bellevue. Across Lake Washington to the east of Seattle, Bellevue currently has more construction cranes than any other location in the US.

How did a Phoenix, AZ born and raised kid from humble beginnings get to where he is today? To hear Steven Olson tell it,

“It all started when I was eleven, my dad took me to a nearby pool hall. He told my Mom he wanted to teach me how to play billiards, it was an excuse, but I was hooked.” As an adult, Steven went on to compete in collegiate nationals, and today enjoys playing billiards recreationally.

Billiards Digest named The Parlor Billiards & Spirits best new US pool hall in 2006. Steven is always looking for a better product mix and guest experience. In mid 2007, he remodeled a portion of The Parlor into a Las Vegas style club. Ultralounge, with a $200,000 sound system and DJ booth, is the plush companion space to The Parlor. “After we opened we realized how few of our guests actually play billiards, so we created a new area for them in which to be entertained with comfortable seating and lots of toys.” The Parlor Billiards & Spirits and Ultralounge is private party central to Microsoft, Eddie Bauer, T-Mobile and scores of other area businesses, over 50% of revenues are private party driven, mostly from the corporate sector. Developers, investors and other interested parties, are asking Steven to replicate his Parlor success in other locations around the country. “Am I interested in opening in Vegas, San Francisco, Chicago: sure when the time is right”, says Steven. Right now he is focusing his energy on this first location, which had revenues of 6 million in 2007. “I started getting inquiries of interest in our first year of operation. Even though I see the glass as half full, I am still striving to get it right in this first location. We also feel that there are opportunities right here in our vicinity, we have started to look around”.
 

 

 
 
 

 



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