|
|
In presenting the award, UPF&DA President Steve Levy said Wright “embodies the qualities that one would use to describe a person of integrity,” a man who holds true to his principles when all eyes are on him, as well as when no one is watching.
Wright grew up in the pest control industry, joining the family business founded by his parents, Clayton and Anita Wright. “Tom Wright applied what he learned in college to the running of the B&G business, but more importantly, he applied what he had learned growing up, and the principles instilled in him, to the way he treated his employees, his customers and his competitors,” Levy said. “The hallmark of his leadership is that he always works to maintain positive relationships with everyone that he comes in contact with.”
Levy said Wright’s strong character and generous spirit is most apparent in his relationship with B&G staff members. “Tom is extremely committed to his employees. It is said that once you are a B&G employee, then you are an employee for life,” Levy observed. “And more often than not, when someone does leave the company, they come back because they again want to work for Tom. This is understandable because Tom feels a deep responsibility to his employees both while they are working for him and even after they retire. He recently took on the task of caring for the 91-year-old widow of one of his former employees who passed away in February.”
Longtime B&G employee Ron Sheffield described Wright as “the mayor of a small town working tirelessly and modestly behind the scenes to make things better for people – finding scholarship money for kids to go to college, settling both petty and large disputes between neighbors, trying to find a way for everyone in the community to thrive. Tom does this as second nature and seeks no adulation or applause,” he said. “It’s in his nature to fix things and treat everyone fairly.”
The person who knows Tom Wright the best, his wife Bonnie, also weighed in with these observations: “It sounds corny, but Tom is truly happiest when helping other people,” she said. “Whether helping a customer improve his business model … or driving a bunch of teenagers to Mexico … or helping a friend from church rid a colony of rats that took up residence in her home, Tom is happiest when helping.”
The Malcolm Stack Integrity Award is named after the highly regarded owner of Bell Laboratories, a two-time president of UPF&DA, who passed away in 2006 following a distinguished career in the pest management industry. “Malcolm Stack was a mentor of mine,” Wright said, “so this award means a great deal to me and it always will. I am humbled. It’s a great honor.”
Wright is the second recipient of the award, which recognizes individuals working at UPF&DA member companies who have “represented the industry with the highest moral and ethical standards,” according to the association’s by-laws. The first recipient of the award was Roland Rhodes, president of Rhodes Chemical Co., Kansas City, Kan., and the current treasurer of UPF&DA.