Tribute to Paul Andrews

42nd Annual Business Hall of Fame – Paul Andrews

Bill Thornton Remarks

November 3, 2011

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Good evening, everyone. I’m Bill Thornton, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. Our chairman Dan Berce, CEO of G-M Financial, sends his congratulations to our honoree and his regrets that he was called out of town.

We’re pleased to partner once again with Texas Wesleyan University and the Fort Worth Business Press, this year to honor Paul Andrews, Jr.

I commend all of you here this evening for contributing to the Thomas H. Law scholarship fund. Education is a top priority of the Fort Worth Chamber, and that’s why we’re involved in partnerships like this one… To help students of all ages understand how businesses function. And to understand that a higher level of education leads to a better-qualified workforce, and ultimately…a higher quality of life for all of us.

Corporate decision makers and influencers of knowledge-based companies put a high value on talent. And our local universities ensure that Fort Worth is producing, attracting and retaining the brightest, talented people and the companies, such as T-T-I, that value them.

Paul, that’s why we are very thankful you began, grew, expanded and kept your electronics company here in Fort Worth. And we’re grateful for your generous contribution in 2007 to T-C-U to create the Andrews Institute of Mathematics and Science Education, for expanding the outreach and research programs to train and qualify math and science teachers. As we all know, this is a critical area of need in our country if we want to remain competitive globally.

I could go on all night about Paul and Judy Andrews’ philanthropy in our city, but much like last year’s honoree Luther King, Paul Andrews – although very involved in community -- doesn’t seek recognition or the spotlight. He’s a modest, hard-working family man. I think his photo with a Q & A in our October Chamberletter was the first time many of our residents had ever seen him!

But tonight, you’re in the spotlight, Paul. We’re here to honor a highly successful entrepreneur of exceptional integrity, and exceptional achievement … a businessman who has earned one of the highest accolades anyone in the business world could possibly earn: …… {move close to microphone}

Warren Buffet bought his company.

The story goes that my friend John Roach and Paul went up to Nebraska one morning a few years ago, got there about 10:30 a.m., chatted about the company for about an hour. Mr. Buffett said, “Here’s my offer.” And then a minute later, “Let’s go get a hamburger.” So, they all went to the local burger joint and when they returned, Buffett told Paul to study on it and let him know. Paul replied, “I don’t have to study it; I’ll accept the offer.” 

There’s a quality shared by great entrepreneurs: decisiveness. Either that, or it was one heck of a hamburger.

Paul told me earlier, “Bill, I decided to open my own business back in 1971 after something my boss told me.”

I asked, “What was that?”

Paul replied, “You’re fired.”

Like so many entrepreneurs, Paul’s road to success began with a job loss. In 1971, General Dynamics’ F-111 project halted, putting 20,000 workers out of work.

With a desk and “Red,” his trusty telephone – was it rotary dial, Paul? --- in his and Judy’s tiny apartment living room, he launched Tex-Tronics, brokering electronics parts.

Recently, I read about Apple founder Steve Jobs being fired in 1985 from the very company HE started. He later would say that “the heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

One of the best aspects of my work at the Chamber is the privilege of meeting creative entrepreneurs and being inspired by the courage and innovation they’ve employed – either their own, or as Paul has pointed out, someone else’s.

Paul’s genius lies in his humility, as he illustrated when he advised our newsletter readers, “Hire your weakness.” 

In his case, Paul said, that was just about everything. He’d always considered himself strong in operations and purchasing, so his first additions were people with high sales experience. Through the years, he sold part of the company to many managers and employee. At the time of the sale to Berkshire Hathaway, over 300 people had some equity position.

Besides all of us, another one of Paul’s greatest fans is comedian Jay Leno. No joke. As many of us know, Leno has an impressive motorcycle and car collection. As many of us may NOT know, so does our honoree, and Leno has personally toured it.

In fact, I was just given this message for you from Leno a few minutes ago: {hold up small slip of paper and act like reading from it} “Paul, Thanks for the Texas bailing wire. Wow, you’re right. It can fix anything.”

Paul began his car collection several years ago, buying his first vintage car similar to one he had in high school, and then focusing on 1920s and ‘30s luxury models like Deusenberg, Packard and Pierce Arrow. President William Howard Taft ordered two Pierce Arrows, the first official cars of the White House.

I did a little research and found that Pierce-Arrow advertisements were like Paul: artistic and understated. Even though it was a luxury vehicle, in the advertisements, the image of the car was in the background rather than the foreground of the picture. Some ads featured the car in places a car would not normally go, like the American West or other rural settings -- a testament to the car’s endurance and quality.

Paul Andrews and Pierce Arrow -- note the same initials -- both embody an American dream: to take a niche idea, improve it, and with drive and determination, turn it into a winning success that’s admired by presidents, celebrities and “significant” investors.

Congratulations from the Fort Worth Chamber on tonight’s prestigious honor, Paul, and on a life that’s admired by family, friends and colleagues.

END