Join us for the kick off to a great speaker series! Voices from the Community: Leadership in Action is new series featuring professional development in relevant business topics.
Friday Feb 24, 2017
Friday, February 24, 2017 Horter Investment Management, LLC $25 for Chamber membersVoices from the Community Speaker Series: February 2017
Our first event, February 24. 2017 will feature entrepreneur Tony Lamb, CEO of Kona Ice. He will share about his experience in the early days of Kona Ice when it was just a single truck operated by himself, how he first got the idea to launch, the company's incredible growth and where he is headed in the future.
More About Tony Lamb:
Introduced by his father to the world of in-home sales in his early teens, Tony developed his skills throughout college. After graduating from the University of Kentucky with a BA in Business and Marketing in 1992, he began his career in sales with Rexair Inc. Setting sales records at every level, Tony won numerous awards and became a distributor, owning his first office in 1993. Expanding to six offices in five years with 300 salespeople, he became one of the largest distributors in the US for Rexair.
After selling his Rexair businesses in 2003, he began working as a marketing consultant. Tony spent the next several years consulting for various businesses, culminating in working with a chain of retail furniture businesses. His work with them was instrumental in their turnaround from a declining to a thriving ongoing entity.
Yearning to start up his own business again, Tony ended his contracts to pursue that ambition. During his exploration of possible business avenues, his family had an unfavorable experience with the neighborhood ice cream truck. That experience, combined with Tony’s knowledge of mobile advertising (at one time owning a fleet of mobile billboard trucks) started his “what if” thought process...resulting in the Kona truck!
Now in 45 states with over 500 franchisees and more than 800 trucks on the road, Kona Ice is the largest food truck franchise in the country. Headquartered in Florence, Kentucky, Kona Ice is considered one of the fastest growing franchises. Franchise Business Review magazine recently ranked Kona Ice number one nationally in franchisee satisfaction. In Entrepreneur Magazine’s annual company ranking, Kona Ice ranked 127, ahead of the iconic Ben and Jerrys, Carvel, and Dippin’ Dots.
Tony’s passion for giving back is also being realized. Not only are each of his franchisees successful, they are businesses that give back to their communities. As of December 2016, over $41 million has been raised for communities all across the US and Canada.
Tony and his wife, Susan, reside in Walton, Kentucky with their four children - Jake, Annie, Jonah and Ava, who are all involved in some capacity in the Kona business.
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Date and Time
8:00 AM - 9:30 AM EST
8:00 am
Location
11726 Seven Gables Rd
Cincinnati, OH 45249Fees/Admission
$35 for non-members
Breakfast Included.