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2009 Leadership Luncheon

The BDO Seidman, LLP Leadership Luncheon was held at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas on Friday, November 13, 2009.

The Murphy Center awarded fourteen scholarships totaling $18,500.We also provided funding for Nurture n' Nature, the winner of the 2009 New Venture Creation Contest, in the amount of $25,000. Roger Staubach delivered the keynote speech and Mark Speese received the Murphy Award for Lifetime Achievement in Entrepreneurship.

Tony Mendes presents the Murphy Award to Mark Speese. David Craig was part of the presentation.

Roger Staubach delivers the keynote speech.

View photos of the 2009 Leadership Luncheon at http://thomasjuddphotography.com/ClientImages/UNTLuncheon/

Order your photos by completing and submitting this form: 2009 Photos

Mark Speese, CEO and Chairman of Rent-A-Center, Inc.
2009 Recipient of the Murphy Award for Lifetime Achievement in Entrepreneurship

Needing money to continue his college education, in early 1979 Speese took time off and began his career in the rent-to-own industry. He started at the entry level with Rent-A-Center, a brand with 12 locations that has been in existence since 1973.

Speese moved up the career ladder at Rent-A-Center, and after nearly eight years in the business, he and a colleague left the company and started a competing business. In 1986 he opened his first store in Bloomfield, NJ under the name Vista Rent-To-Own. Responsible for all aspects of the business including writing the business model and employee handbook, choosing store locations and negotiating leases, hiring and training of personnel as well as creating advertising and securing vendors, he spent the first several years building the foundation. Then in 1993 with 23 stores, Vista made its first of many acquisitions, acquiring 83 stores and becoming know as Renters Choice. The company went public on the NASDAQ market in 1995 under the symbol RCII.

 From 1995 through 1998 with Speese serving as president and chief operating officer,  Renter's Choice  grew to approximately 800 stores.  Then in August of 1998, Renters Choice acquired 1,409 Rent-A-Center stores from Thorn Americas, putting the Company on the map as the industry’s dominant rent-to-own company.  Renters Choice took the Rent-A-Center name. Today, Rent-A-Center has more than 18,500 co-workers and 3,000 stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.  The Company reported 2008 revenues of $2.88 billion.

Mr. Speese, who grew up in Michigan, resides in Plano with his wife Carolyn, and has two daughters and one son. He is president of the board of directors for the Collin County Children's Advocacy Center in Plano and an active board member of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) and the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Speese is also a member of the Dallas Citizen's Council.

Mr. Speese has received numerous honors, including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Retailing, 2005; Plano Chamber of Commerce’s Business Executive of the Year Award, 2007; Philanthropic Award from Collin County Children’s Advocacy Center’s 14th Annual Appreciation Luncheon, 2008; 21 for the 21st Century Leadership Award from Inside Collin County Business, 2008; and Bank of America Local Hero’s Award recipient, 2009.

Mr. Speese’s philanthropic philosophy influences RAC’s involvement as national sponsors of Boys & Girls Clubs, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Feeding America, and Junior Achievement as well as local support of the Collin County Children’s Advocacy Center and the North Texas Food Bank, among others. RAC developed an internal giving program called Random Acts of Caring which supports select non-profits and sponsors an annual Make A Difference Scholarship program for customers, their children, and Rent-A-Center co-workers which gives 60 $1,000 scholarships to students seeking higher education.

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