If you would like to become a sponsor for SpringBoard, send us an email at springboardchallenge@gmail.com. Be sure and put “Sponsor” somewhere in the subject line. Remember, SpringBoard accepts donations of both money and services.
Sponsors
Platinum Level:
Development Corporation of Abilene -
Dian Graves Owen Foundation -
Robert J. Hall - Robert J. Hall is general partner of the Hall Family Partnership in Abilene, Texas. He manages his own personal affairs. Robert was President and C.E.O. of the Visador Company in Jasper, Texas, for almost 25 years. Visador manufactured and marketed specialty building material products for the home construction industry. He led a company that was an innovator and leader in bringing new products to the construction industry. Robert graduated from Tyler High School in 1947 and from Abilene Christian (College) University with a B.S. degree in Business Administration in 1951. After being elected as President and C.E.O. of the Visador Company in September, 1964 he felt a need for more education in management techniques. He took a management course offered by American Management Association in New York City in 1965. Prior to becoming President of Visador Company, Robert had been an office clerk at Ready Hung Door Company in Dallas, Texas (1951-1952), Vice President and Manager of El Paso Molding Company in El Paso, Texas (1952-1956) and Vice President of Visador Company in Jasper, Texas (1956-1964). During the 43 years Robert lived in Jasper, Texas, he was a member of the Jasper Church of Christ where he served at various times as a song leader, teacher, deacon, and elder. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club, serving as President in 1960 and Lieutenant Governor of Division 10 in 1975-1976. In Jasper, he was a member and President of the Jasper Chamber of Commerce, Jasper Memorial Hospital, and the Jasper Community Foundation. From the Boy Scouts of America Robert was honored with the Silver Beaver Award in 1975 and the Good Scout Award in 1992. Robert and his wife, Mary Ann, moved to Abilene, Texas in November of 1999 in order to be closer to family members. They now attend Hillcrest Church of Christ. He was selected as the Outstanding Alumnus of the year in 1993 by Abilene Christian University. He currently serves on the boards of Abilene Christian University, Christian Village of Abilene, Abilene Christian Schools, Eastern European Missions and the Christian Chronicle. His hobbies are photography, choral singing, writing his life story for his children and grandchildren and poking fun at himself.
Harte-Hanks, Inc., San Antonio, TX, is a worldwide, direct and targeted marketing company that provides direct marketing services and shopper advertising opportunities to a wide range of local, regional, national and international consumer and business-to-business marketers.
Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing improves the return on its clients’ marketing investment with a range of services organized around five solution points: Information—Opportunity—Insight—Engagement—Execution. Expert at each element within this process, Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing is highly skilled at tailoring solutions for each of the vertical markets it serves.
Harte-Hanks Shoppers is North America’s largest owner, operator and distributor of shopper publications, with shoppers that are zoned into more than 900 separate editions reaching in excess of 11 million households in California and Florida each week.
Gold Level:
Citi is today’s pre-eminent financial services company, with some 200 million customer accounts in more than 100 countries. Their history dates back to the founding of Citibank in 1812, Bank Handlowy in 1870, Smith Barney in 1873, Banamex in 1884, and Salomon Brothers in 1910.
Other major brand names in Citi’s diverse portfolio include Citi Cards, CitiFinancial, CitiMortgage, CitiInsurance, Primerica, Diners Club, Citi Private Bank, and CitiCapital.
Coates Real Estate -
Lauren Engineers & Constructors, is a leading EPC contractor serving power and industrial clients.
Lauren represents a work-in-progress aimed at continually becoming a better, more competitive Contractor of Choice. Since its beginnings twenty years ago, they have grown from a small, single-office specialty contractor to become a leading EPC contractor. Through this growth process they have changed a lot, but their cornerstone commitments have remained the same: Integrity, Safety, Quality, and Performance.
Lauren Engineers & Constructors has over 200 employees and is licensed in 39 states. They have offices in Texas, Tennessee, and throughout Canada, equipped to provide their customers with a full range of high-quality, cost-effective, in-house engineering and construction services.
Headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., Silicon Valley Bank offers its clients commercial, investment, merchant and private banking, as well as value-added services using its knowledge and networks. Founded in 1983, SVB Financial Group serves nearly 11,000 clients around the world through 27 domestic offices, three international subsidiaries in the U.K., India and China, and an extensive network of relationships with venture capitalists in Asia, Australia, Europe, India, and Israel.
With solid understanding of the true risks and rewards faced by companies in dynamic markets, the company is widely recognized for its ability to develop innovative approaches to meet the unique financial needs of its clients. SVB Financial Group began serving the technology and life science markets at a time when they were not well-understood by the financial services industry and when many of the leading companies in these industries were just getting started. At that time, many of these companies had yet to show profits and were not considered creditworthy by local community or regional banks.
Over the last two decades, SVB Financial Group has become one of the most respected names in the financial services industry. The company has created innovative solutions for some of the world’s most successful technology and life sciences companies. These companies face unique challenges and require special services, such as finding the right venture capitalist or angel investor, securing capital to support rapid growth, or driving overseas expansion. SVB Financial Group offers products and services specifically tailored to meet our clients’ needs at every stage of corporate growth.
Today, SVB Financial Group has more than 1,000 employees and $6 billion in assets. The company operates offices throughout Silicon Valley in Fremont, Menlo Park - the center of California’s venture capital community, Santa Clara and Palo Alto. Other regional offices within California include Irvine, Los Angeles, Napa, San Diego, San Francisco, and Sonoma. Across the country, SVB Financial Group operates in Phoenix, Arizona; Boulder, Colorado; Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Boston, Massachusetts; Minneapolis, Minnesota; New York, New York; Durham, North Carolina; Portland, Oregon; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Austin, Texas; Dallas, Texas; Reston, Virginia; and Seattle, Washington. International subsidiaries are located in London, Bangalore and Shanghai.
Silver Level:
Don Crisp - Don Crisp graduated from ACU in 1964 with a B.S. in Accounting and Business Administration. He was appointed to the ACU Board of Trustees in 1984 and has served as chairman of the board since 1992. In addition to the Board of Trustees, Crisp has also serves on the Advisory Board for the university. In 1990, he was recognized by the College of Business Administration as the Distinguished Business Leader of the Year.
Crisp has worked with Rosewood Corporation since 1977 and currently serves as chairman of Rosewood and trustee of the Caroline Hunt Trust Estate. He is also a member of the Dallas Christian Schools Board of Trustees and the Christian Services of the Southwest Board of Trustees.
In 1890, First Financial Bank began serving the Abilene area as Farmers and Merchants National Bank. The bank was launched with a capital of $50,000 and Abilene was home to over 3,000 optimistic pioneers. Throughout the years, the bank grew under strong leadership and helped the region diversify its economy. In 1957, the bank changed its name to First National Bank of Abilene. In 1973, First National became a member of First Abilene Bankshares, Inc., a newly formed holding company that would become First Financial Bankshares, Inc. in 1993.
Through the turbulent economic times of the 1980s, when more than 500 Texas banks would fail and require FDIC reorganization assistance, First National Bank received national recognition when it was named one of the safest banking organizations in the United States.
The bank began expanding in 1987, when the state approved branch banking and introduced the concept of “supermarket banking” to Abilene in 1995. The addition of offices in Wal-Mart Supercenter, H-E-B and United Supermarket further expanded the bank’s ability to serve Abilene neighborhoods.
In 2005, First National Bank changed its name to First Financial Bank and added new locations in Clyde, Moran, and Albany. First Financial Bank serves the area with 12 branch locations, 17 ATMs, complete investment and trust services, and an exciting lineup of enhanced accounts and technology-driven services.
Although many things have changed in the past 118 years, First Financial continues to provide friendly faces with the experience to support customers and the community. The financial holding company, First Financial Bankshares, Inc. operates ten separately chartered banks with 46 locations in Texas, a trust company, and a technology company. First Financial Bankshares, Inc. has consolidated assets over $2.7 billion and is listed in the NASDAQ Global Select Market, which has the highest initial listing standards of any stock exchange in the world based on financial and liquidity requirements.
Headquartered in Abilene, Genesis Networks Solutions (GNS) is the fastest-growing high tech firm in west Texas. They deliver proven, end-to-end IT solutions designed specifically for companies in customer- and service-oriented industries. GNS works on a direct or subcontracting basis for an expanding client base of successful companies, including Cingular and AT&T.
Their Mission is to lead the IT support services industry by providing comprehensive software testing, development, and support solutions to customer-driven technology customers at an unprecedented value for North America.
Their Vision is to create a hub of technology excellence in west Texas. They partner with local and regional universities to promote enrollment growth in computer science, information technology and related fields. To support that vision, Genesis Networks Solutions (GNS) invests in innovative training philosophies, world-class IT infrastructure, software testing and support laboratories and data center/network operations center facilities, providing qualified graduates with exciting opportunities in the technology marketplace.
Finally, headquartered in Abilene, Texas, GNS pursues a rural sourcing model that provides their customers the best of both worlds: superior software solutions at an unprecedented value for North America. They are working to build a highly skilled workforce of software Quality Assurance engineers, analysts and developers. By seeking domestic on-shore sourcing for IT professional services, forward-looking companies can save money and improve customer satisfaction, while measurably enhancing their community relations.
Jack Rich - Jack Rich is the senior vice president and chief investment officer of ACU, in charge of overseeing investment strategies. In the fifteen years that the ACU Endowment has been under his guidance, it has grown from $55 million to $285 million.
Rich received a Bachelor of Business Administration from ACU in 1976 and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas San Antonio in 1980. He became a CPA in 1978 and earned the right to use the CFA designation in 2006.
Tejon Exploration Company
Friends
- Stephen Jacobs
- Zachry Associates