An overflow crowd was on hand when Frank Jacobs, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Falcon Products, Inc., presented the inaugural V. Dale Cozad Lecture in Entrepreneurship 0n April 6th at the Levis Faculty Center in Urbana. And no one was disappointed with what they heard. This lecture series was established by a gift from Champaign developer Peter Fox and his wife Kim and enhanced by additional gifts from the family and friends of Dale Cozad, a local entrepreneur and friend of the college who died in 1993 from cancer.

In addition to Dean Howard Thomas, faculty and students from the college, the audience had a cross-section of local businesspersons and the donors, Peter Fox, Greg and Kristie Cozad and Cindy Cozad Norris. A surprise member of the audience was Bob Cohen, Jacobs' college roommate.

Jacobs told his story. How he gave up a steady job in banking to become a self-employed entrepreneur. With a bankroll of $1,000, contributed half by him and half by a cousin, they went into the business of distributing table bases to hospital cafeterias and restaurants. Very soon his partner left the business and Jacobs was running a business with one employee. The first year he did $5,000 in sales. By 1998 the company had grown to 2,000 employees and sales of $140 million. The company, which manufactures and distributes industrial furniture products now has 2,000,000 square feet of manufacturing space throughout the world and its products are sold through 3,000 distributors world-wide.

Using his story to illustrate salient points about entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs, he told the audience that "Entrepreneurs are people who take advantage of opportunities." As an example, he told how he shifted from being a distributor of table bases that he bought, to becoming a manufacturer of tables. He delivered bases to a customer who was fuming because his supplier couldn't deliver the tops on time. Jacobs saw an opportunity. He promised to deliver the product, bought a saw, and hired someone to make the tabletops. From this humble beginning, the manufacturing side of the business grew. This story also illustrates another one of Jacobs' important observations, that successful entrepreneurs must cater to the customer. From the first, the needs and desires of the customer were paramount with him.

Jacobs also says he had a lot of luck in his life, which contributed to his success. He has benefited from being in the right place at the right time. But, he also made a lot of his own luck by reacting quickly and smartly to the situation. And then there is his attitude toward his employees. He "puts people first." By doing this he has bred incredible loyalty among his workers and in one plant, in Mexico, 80 percent of his workers have been with the company for fifteen or more years.

When Jacobs was at the university (BS Economics 1954) he was sometimes an indifferent student. But today he recognizes that the "University of Illinois was an important part of my life. On reflection, through the years, it has come to mean even more." His advice to would-be entrepreneurs is "to get a good, broad-based education and to read widely, especially literature." A successful entrepreneur must "do things you don't like." And the life is very difficult. At the beginning it can be very lonely. You have to identify a product the world wants and then supply it in a way that makes your product more attractive than your competitor's.

In 1973 Jacobs took his company public. It was names one of the top 200 small companies in America by Forbes Magazine and Business week in 1992, 1994, and 1995. Jacobs was appointed to the Advisory Commission for trade negotiations by President Carter in 1982-84 and was named Entrepreneur of the Year by Inc. Magazine, Ernst and Young, and Merrill Lynch in 1992.

The Cozad Lecture Series was established by a generous gift from Kim and Peter Fox and enhanced by additional gifts from the family and friends of Dale Cozad. This lecture series honors the memory of Dale Cozad and the hard work, dedication, and entrepreneurial spirit that led to his great success.

Cozad founded Cozad Asset Management, a diversified financial services business in 1972. He was also one of the entrepreneurs who founded Cozad Westchester Agricultural Asset Management which serves institutional agricultural investors. The current president of Cozad Asset Management, Gregg Cozad, says that his dad was "always an entrepreneur at heart, always looking for new areas of financial services that would allow him to serve his clientele better. This lecture series is a fitting memorial to my dad. It combines his great interest with his commitment to the University of Illinois." Although Dale Cozad was a graduate of Southern Illinois University, he was a valued member of the Commerce Business Advisory Council from 1981 until his untimely death from cancer in 1993.

Each semester, highly placed, successful businesspersons share their time and expertise with students, faculty, and college administrators. This spring, those participating in our Executive-in-Residence Program were: Mike Muhney, senior manager, Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group; Janet E. Klug, marketing communications manager, Ford Division; and Kent P. Dauten, founder and President of Keystone Capital, Inc. Typically, each person spends from 2 to 4 days on campus, teaching classes, interacting with students and faculty one-on-one, and generally becoming involved in the activities of the college. Judging from the comments we get, the learning that takes place flows two ways. Most of our execs leave campus exhausted but rejuvenated by the experience.

Commerce Junior Christine Dvaro wrote the letter that got her mom, Elise Hayes of St. Charles, crowned Queen for the annual Mom's Day festivities, April 16-20. In an especially affecting letter, Christine explained why her mom, who rescued her from an orphanage, deserves this honor:

"My mother is not my biological mother. I lived in an orphanage for six years after being abandoned by my biological parents. My aunt, who I call my mother, became my legal guardian while I resided in the orphanage. This gave her the privilege to take me off campus on the weekends to stay with her. She did this as often as she could to let me know that I was loved. When I was in fifth grade, my mother got married. I was in the wedding, and they even took me on their honeymoon to Disney World so I could do something really fun for once in my life.

"It took some time to adjust to living with a mother and father who cared so deeply for me. It was the first time in my life that I felt loved and wanted. I felt and was treated as though I was their own daughter.

"Her support and trust in me has helped to make me the confident, determined and caring person I am today. Because of her love and compassion, I have learned to trust others and am not afraid to show my emotions.

"So why is my mom queen mom? It's not only because she sacrificed her life to provide a home for me and made me a part of her family. It's also because she has always believed in me, supported my decisions, and granted me the chance for a bright future."