Rockbridge County Based ParknPool Corp Named Winner in Tayloe Murphy Resilience Awards Competition
LEXINGTON, VA, SEPTEMBER 2nd, 2010: The national economy may have taken some hard hits recently, but Lexington's ParknPool Corporation, owned by County residents Jim and Brenda Fonner, is proving that innovative entrepreneurship is alive and well in Rockbridge County!
ParknPool was one of twelve businesses named in August as finalists in the Tayloe Murphy Resilience Awards Competition. This statewide competition, sponsored by the Tayloe Murphy Center at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, is designed to highlight businesses, who despite economic challenges, have flourished.
Gregory B. Fairchild, Executive Director of the Tayloe Murphy Center and Associate Professor of Business Administration at Darden states, "We at the Tayloe Murphy Center are pleased to learn about these incredible companies and their leaders and be able to share their stories with the Commonwealth. Their growth rates are substantial and impressive, with an average annual profit growth rate of 188.77% and employment growth of 54.33% from 2005 through 2008."
In an effort to recognize the hard working business leaders who contribute to the economic well being that helps keep Virginia strong during these difficult times, the Tayloe Murphy Center evaluated over 100 applications from local, entrepreneurial businesses located in 45 counties in Virginia. Twelve finalists were selected in August, and five winners were chosen from among these finalists at a celebration dinner, held in the Dome Room of the University of Virginia's historic Rotunda on September 1st.
ParknPool was named winner in the "Retail" category, and will receive a Resilience Award - a full scholarship funding to a course at Darden's Executive Education Program. Jim Fonner, Vice President of ParknPool said, "When we gathered in the Rotunda that Thomas Jefferson had built at the University of Virginia, a feeling of humility washed through me. I did not deserve to be in the presence of such greats as Thomas Jefferson, Colgate Darden, Jr. and Tayloe Murphy, Jr. After a moment of regaining my emotional balance, I realized that the actual deserving "greats" were my Divine Provider and the people who work in the ParknPool organization. I was just charged with representing them. This was a duty that I could embrace."
The Darden School of Business, founded in 1954, is a professional school committed to improving society by developing principled leaders in the world of practical affairs.
