Congressman Hale Boggs thought his son, Tommy, was crazy when he turned down offers from established Washington law firms to join a five-lawyer group just getting started. Today that firm, Patton Boggs, is a global force more than 700 lawyers strong.
M. Charito Kruvant and her three female colleagues had the radical idea that they should be paid for their work running social programs in developing countries—not funded as a charity. Kruvant’s company received the first US Agency for International Development contract awarded to a woman-owned business—and was the first to get coveted 8(a) status from the federal government.
At a time when banks were going national, Ron Paul started one that was determinedly local. EagleBank was an overnight success.
Boggs, Kruvant, Paul, and their fellow 2012 inductees into the Washington Business Hall of Fame show the power of one person’s vision to create a successful enterprise that enriches his or her colleagues, clients, and community.
Twenty-four years ago, The Washingtonian, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, and Junior Achievement of Greater Washington created the Washington Business Hall of Fame. The dinner and awards ceremony benefits Junior Achievement and its programs that teach financial literacy and entrepreneurship to area students. In 2012, JA sent more than 3,800 volunteers into schools to help 50,000 students. At Junior Achievement Finance Park in Fairfax, more than 15,000 Washington middle-schoolers get hands-on lessons in money management.
For information about the December 4 Hall of Fame dinner at the Washington Hilton, contact Junior Achievement at 202-296-1200.
Illustrations by Forrest Greene.
This article appears in the November 2012 issue of The Washingtonian.
