November 19, 1998
KALAMAZOO -- Richard G. Haworth, chairman of Haworth Inc., will tell the story of how a small furniture company in Holland, Mich., grew to become a multi-billion dollar global success Wednesday, Dec. 2, as part of Western Michigan University's Haworth College of Business Distinguished Speaker Series.
Haworth, who joined his family-owned business in 1964 and became president and chief operating officer in 1976, will speak on "Growing a Family Business" at 7:30 p.m. in the Brown Auditorium of Schneider Hall. Under his leadership the company has become one of the world's largest manufacturers of office furniture, growing from a single-line company with sales of $10 million and 225 employees to a broad-based, multi-product company with sales of more than $1.5 billion and more than 10,000 employees.
Business and community leaders from across Southwest Michigan as well as WMU faculty, staff and students will attend the event. The lecture is by invitation only. A question and answer period will follow the presentation.
The next scheduled lecture in the series will be Tuesday, Jan. 19. The speaker will be David A. Daberko, chairman and chief executive officer of National City Corp.
Media representatives interested in attending should call Marie E. Lee in the Office of Marketing, Public Relations and Communications at (616) 387-8411.
Media contact: Cheryl Roland, 616 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu
Office of University Relations
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