Medallion for Entrepreneurship Recipients - 2007
David Bussau
Founder, Opportunity International
Nominated by: Loyola Marymount University
 Over the last 50 years, David Bussau has established himself as not only a successful businessperson, but also a true humanitarian and innovative social entrepreneur.
A pioneer of micro economic development, Bussau is the co-founder of Opportunity International. The organization provides small loans—not handouts—to budding entrepreneurs in 27 developing countries, empowering them to start or expand their own small businesses.
Prior to his social entrepreneurial work, Bussau displayed the heart of an entrepreneur in New Zealand and Australia. Starting his business career as a teenager, Bussau operated a hot dog stand outside of a soccer stadium. Twenty years and several successful business ventures later, Bussau retired as a millionaire at the age of 35.
Bussau’s career would take a different turn following the 1974 arrival of Cyclone Tracey in Australia’s Northern Territory. The storm devastated the region, destroying more than 70 percent of the buildings and infrastructure in the city of Darwin.
Responding to a call for help, Bussau moved his family north and headed up a national movement to assist the storm’s victims. Bussau arranged for a team of builders to help rebuild Aboriginal housing destroyed by the cyclone.
In 1976, Bussau and his family moved to Indonesia to help rebuild following an earthquake. As he applied traditional development solutions—re-establishing water supplies, repairing bridges and roads, and rebuilding schools—Bussau gradually realized that sustainable development needed more than just infrastructure. This traditional approach still left poor families trapped in poverty. Bussau’s solution was micro enterprise development.
Using his own money, Bussau offered unsecured, collateral-free micro-loans to poor entrepreneurs. Bussau’s first loan went to a struggling Indonesian farmer who used the $50 loan to purchase a sewing machine and start a tailoring business.
In 1979, Bussau joined forces with American businessman Al Whittaker, former president of Bristol Myers International Corporation, to form the organization that is now Opportunity International. Today, Opportunity International has microfinance programs in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
In 2003, Bussau was given the Queen’s Honours of the Order of Australia and awarded the Ernst & Young Australian Entrepreneur of the Year. Now retired from Opportunity International, Bussau continues his work by providing consultancy services to governments, multinationals and other organizations. He also retains an honorary position on the board of Opportunity International Australia.
Edwin F. Hale, Sr.
CEO and Chairman, First Mariner Bank
Nominated by: Towson University
 Starting at the very bottom of the business ladder, Edwin F. Hale, Sr. has become one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Baltimore, Md. Throughout his career, Hale has found entrepreneurial success in a variety of industries, and has risen to the top of the business world.
At the age of 22, with little college education and very little professional experience, Hale began his path to success as a clerk with Atco Trailer Rentals. Hale advanced through the ranks while at Atco, reaching the position of company vice president.
By 1975 he had resigned from his position to pursue various industrial and commercial real estate ventures, including industrial warehouse operations in Baltimore and co-ownership and operation of industrial waterfront properties along the East Coast.
In the early 1990s, Hale shifted professional gears and accepted a position as chairman of the board and CEO of Baltimore Bancorp, a position he would serve from 1991 to 1994. In January 1995, Hale purchased controlling interest in 1st Mariner Bancorp—now one of Baltimore’s largest community banks, holding more than $1 billion in assets.
In addition to his successes with the bank, Edwin F. Hale, Sr. is the President and CEO of Hale Properties, LLC, which specializes in commercial real estate, development, leasing, property management, and tenant representation. Among the projects Hale Properties currently has in the works is Canton Crossing, a $500 million development.
Hale is also owner of the Baltimore Blast Professional Indoor Soccer Team.
With all his companies, Hale is one of the largest employers in the state of Maryland.
Taking an interest in the business leaders of the future, Hale served as the “Donald” for Towson University’s inaugural “The Associate,” competition. The program, a rendition of NBC’s “The Apprentice,” provided eight graduating seniors from the Towson University College of Business and Economics with the opportunity to compete for a permanent position in one of Hale’s companies.
Hale is an active member of many humanitarian groups, including the Living Classrooms Foundation, the National Historic Seaport and the Lady Maryland Foundation. He is Chairman of the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association, a nonprofit organization specializing in bringing people to Baltimore through promotion of conventions and leisure visits.
Hale’s recognitions include being named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by Ernst & Young and the Baltimore Business Journal and being named “Humanitarian of the Year” by Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Baltimore.
Howard Hawks
Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Tenaska, Inc.
Nominated by: University of Nebraska Omaha
 Combining business innovation with service to humanity, Howard L. Hawks has created a strong organization and an important foundation that provides a critical support to the community.
As founder, Chairman, and CEO of Tenaska, Inc., Hawks is the head of the 16th largest privately held company in the United States. Known for its expertise in power generation, Tenaska is actively engaged in energy development activities within the United States and around the world, including independent power development, operation, natural gas and power marketing, fuel supply and gas transportation systems, and energy asset acquisitions.
Under Hawks’ leadership, Tenaska has recently expanded its focus to bio-fuels, clean coal generation and coal-to-liquid production of diesel fuels. Each of these developments has the potential to benefit society by lowering energy costs, enhancing energy efficiency, and reducing pollution.
Hawks and a small group of associates formed Tenaska, Inc. in 1987 amidst a newly de-regulated energy market with limited personal capital. With Hawks at the helm, Tenaska overcame market risks, and has raised more than $7.8 billion in financing.
Tenaska has since developed 15 power generating stations, built one of the top 10 gas marketing businesses in North America, and operates a dynamic electric power marketing company that manages a portfolio of more than 8,500 megawatts of non-Tenaska-owned electric generating assets.
Tenaska’s biggest growth and innovation have come within the last decade. Between 1996 and 2005, plant capacity grew from 500 to 7,500 megawatts. Tenaska’s assets have also grown, more than tripling from $800 million in 2001 to over $2.6 billion in 2005.
Before establishing Tenaska, Hawks, who earned a business degree in accounting from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, and an MBA degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, was an executive of General Motors, and headed three major corporations at InterNorth, Inc.
Hawks has broad leadership credentials both within and outside of the energy industry.
He is an elected member of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents and serves as a director of Creighton University. He helped to endow the Howard Hawks Chair of Business Ethics at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and through the Hawks Foundation has funded hundreds of scholarships over many years.
Randal J. Kirk
Founder, Chairman, and CEO, New River Pharmaceuticals, Third Security, LLC
Nominated by: Radford University
 A prominent business entrepreneur in the pharmaceutical field, Randal J. Kirk not only dedicates his time to the business he founded, but also to the economic and educational growth of his community.
Kirk, the founder and CEO of New River Pharmaceuticals, is head of the most valuable biotech company in Virginia. New River specializes in developing next generation pharmaceuticals that are safer and improved versions of widely prescribed drugs in large and growing markets.
While most large pharmaceutical companies concentrate their research and development efforts looking for medical breakthroughs, New River has managed to carve out a niche for itself within the market by improving upon existing medications.
Initially funded by Kirk and a small group of investors, New River went public in 2004. The company’s stock, which opened on the NASDAQ at $8 a share, performed well out of the gate. On its first-year anniversary, New River closed at $36.36, an increase of over 350 percent from its initial offering price.
Kirk has contemporaneously funded and led several other healthcare, biotech, and information technology companies. He is the founder, chairman and senior managing director of Third Security LLC, a private investment firm that he established in 1999. The firm invests in companies in the life sciences, information technology and investment advisory areas.
Prior to his entrepreneurial activities, Kirk began his professional career in the private practice of law. He cofounded General Injectables & Vaccines, Inc., a pharmaceutical distributor, in 1983 and served as the company’s Chairman of the Board until it was sold in 1998 for a reported $100 million.
Also in 1998, Kirk funded the Zylphia Shu En Kirk Endowment at his alma mater, Radford University. The endowment, named for his daughter, established a Chinese curriculum at the university and funds student exchanges to China. The $1 million gift was the largest ever by a school alumnus.
Kirk is Rector of the Radford University Board of Visitors and is a member of the Radford University Foundation, Inc. Board of Directors. He was tri-chair of Radford University’s “Builiding a Legacy” Capital Campaign, which raised more than $44
View a list of Past Medallion for Entrepreneurship Recipients
|
