PAUL ORFALEA

Paul Orfalea founded Kinko's in 1970 with a simple idea: provide college students with photocopying products and services they need at a competitive price. From its modest beginnings in Santa Barbara, California, Kinko's is now the world's leading business services chain, with over 1,200 locations worldwide.

Much of Kinko's success can be traced directly to Orfalea's unique business philosophies. He believed that success could be achieved by taking care of his co-workers and customers and by constantly seeking new opportunities.

Orfalea encouraged active participation from all 23,000 co-workers, and implemented generous incentive programs to stimulate creativity. As a result, Fortune magazine selected Kinko's as one of the "100 Best Companies to Work with in America" in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Forbes magazine also ranked Kinko's 84th on its year 2000 "Forbes 500 Biggest Private Companies." Working Mother magazine listed Kinko's in its "Best Companies for Working Mothers" 2001 issue.

In 2000, Orfalea retired from as Kinko's Chairperson and assumed the role of Chairperson Emeritus. In 2004, Kinko's was acquired by the FedEx Corporation. While Orfalea is no longer involved with FedEx Kinko's business management, he is active in several other ventures, including West Coast Asset Management Inc., Stone Canyon Venture Partners LP and others.

Forbes, People and Fortune magazines, along with The New York Times, have profiled Orfalea as one of several prominent leaders. His story is made even more interesting by the fact that he has overcome dyslexia on the road to an illustrious career. He has also received many prestigious awards, including the 1998 Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business; the 2000 Philanthropist of the Year and 2003 Friend of the California Community Colleges; the 2001 Conrad Hilton Entrepreneur Award; the Beta Gamma Sigma Medallion for Entrepreneurship; CEO Hall of Fame; the Salvation Army's Sally Award; and USC's 2003 R.O.S.E Award (Recognition of Outstanding Support for Education).

Another of Paul Orfalea's efforts is to increase public awareness of the important need for businesses to support "family-friendly" work/life policies including flex-time and quality early care for children of working parents. He also works with government leaders to encourage businesses and educational institutions to provide these benefits to co-workers and students.

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