In celebration of Northern Kentucky’s heritage of business accomplishments, NKY Magazine, in partnership with the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, has created the Northern Kentucky Business Hall of Fame to recognize the rich tradition of success and civic involvement in the region’s business community. The Northern Kentucky Business Hall of Fame honors men and women who have made a lasting contribution to the community in economic, cultural and civic endeavors. Inductees will be honored at the fifth annual Northern Kentucky Business Hall of Fame event April 26 at the Metropolitan Club. This event is sponsored by Northern Kentucky University’s Haile/U.S. Bank College of Business; Schneller Heating, Cooling & Air; Executive Jet Management; Northern Kentucky Tri-ED; and Executive Transportation. The nonprofit beneficiary is the Horizon Community Funds of Northern Kentucky. Registration and cocktail hour begins at 5 p.m., with the program and dinner starting at 6 p.m. BY THE EDITORS
POSTHUMOUS
James E. Simpson Jr. OWNED JONES & SIMPSON FUNERAL HOME James E. Simpson Jr. made history in 1971 when he became the first AfricanAmerican to win a seat on the Covington City Commission. It was a source of great pride for the family, says his son Arnold Simpson, a former city manager of Covington and current Kentucky state representative. “My father ran for office hoping to win, but realizing that even if he did not win that the community would win because it was very important to have an individual who was of color … to rise to these positions,” says Arnold. He completed the two-year term on the Covington City Commission and later completed an unexpired term on Covington City Commission in 1991. Not only was Simpson a history-making politician, he was also a business owner. Simpson bought the C.E. Jones Funeral Home in Covington in 1961 from Anna Jones, who retired that year. He later
26
NKY MAGAZINE SUMMER 2018
changed the name to Jones & Simpson Funeral Home. His path to owning the funeral home started when he joined the U.S. Army in 1947. He then used his GI Bill benefits to finance his education at the Cincinnati College of Mortuary Science and earned his degree in 1951. He then started working at the C.E. Jones Funeral home, which served the African-American community in Northern Kentucky, the following year. Simpson, who was born in 1928 in Somerset, Kentucky, and died in 1999, was also active in Northern Kentucky’s civic community, serving on multiple boards. “He gave of himself willingly and that’s something he felt that he was obligated to do,” says Arnold. “Because
before he came along there were no African Americans on these boards.” – ERIC SPANGLER
Candace S. McGraw CINCINNATI/NORTHERN KENTUCKY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, CEO In law school Candace McGraw says she had aspirations to “right all the injustice in the world.” She hasn’t had that opportunity, but she’s had a major impact on a cornerstone of the Tristate economy. As CEO at CVG since 2011, McGraw has been instrumental in the reinvention of the airport from a hub for Delta Air Lines’ shrinking operations to a growing local origination airport with the lowest fares in its history and a growing cargo operation. It’s one of the things she’s proudest of. “When I came here 10 years ago or so, 90 percent plus of our passengers were connecting, just passing through here. Now it’s the converse. Ninety-plus percent of our passengers are local but we have more passengers coming through the airport than ever,” says McGraw, who came to Cincinnati in 2009 as chief administrative officer. “One of the proudest accomplishments I’ve had is helping build a team with deep expertise. I know the airport will be well served into the future with this team.” McGraw, who received a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh, went to work for the city of Cleveland’s law department after graduation and was assigned as counsel to the city-owned airport and fell in love with the work. At CVG, she says, “We have 7,500 acres and our own police and fire department. We maintain the entire infrastructure and
oversee all the passengers coming and going. It is like small city.” There were few women in airport administration when she started 30 years ago but today she’s among a group of women managing some of the nation’s largest airports. McGraw
has been active in a number of organizations and received a number of awards including YWCA Career Woman of Achievement, Outstanding Woman of Northern Kentucky and Best Boss of Northern Kentucky. – MIKE BOYER
www.BestofNKY.com
27
BUSINESS HALL OF FAME
w w w. b e s t o f n ky. c o m
DOCTORS OF NORTHERN
STATELY DINING AT THE PRESIDENTS INN
Remembering Bill Robinson “Mr. Northern Kentucky”
STATE REP. ARNOLD SIMPSON SPEAKS OUT
New Life for the Historic Bavarian Brewery
Broadway Veteran Jessica Hendy Comes to NKY
How Local Execs Landed Southwest Airlines
SOLVING CRIMES WITH WAYNE WALLACE
KENTUCKY MORE THAN
750 DOCTORS IN
63 SPECIALTIES PLUS THE REGION’S
62 TOP DENTISTS
The Best Food, Drink, Entertainment & More in Northern Kentucky
PUBLISHED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Paradise Donuts in Florence
PUBLISHED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
SUMMER 2017 VOLUME 7 ISSUE 2
PUBLISHED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
Bill Butler
Dr. Gerry Tolbert FALL 2017 VOLUME 7 ISSUE 3
Corporex Companies, LLC
Wayne Carlisle
Carlisle Construction
R.C. Durr
R.C. Durr Company
A magazine dedicated exclusively to Northern Kentucky The Arts, Businesses, Communities, Entertainment and most of all its People. Visit us at WWW.BESTOFNKY.COM for a complimentary subscription
28
NKY MAGAZINE SUMMER 2018
BUSINESS HALL OF FAME
Brian J. Papke MAZAK CORP., CHAIRMAN For more than 30 years Brian Papke has preached the gospel of American manufacturing and he’s helped turn Mazak from a small U.S. sales operation for its Japanese parent into one of the leading innovators in U.S. manufacturing technology, designing and building systems in Northern Kentucky for export overseas.
Under his leadership, Mazak’s business in the United States has grown more than 10 times in size. The company has expanded 16 times and employment has grown to more than 1,000 in the United States, most of them based at the company’s 800,000-square-foot manufacturing campus in Florence. Papke, a longtime member and officer of the national Association for Manufacturing Technology, was named one of 30 Advanced Manufacturing Visionaries by SME’s Smart Manufacturing Magazine two years ago. Papke, who grew up in the machine tool center of Rockford, Illinois, says he’s
always been fascinated with the application of technology to produce things faster and more efficiently. “I have a passion about manufacturing and one of the things I’m proudest of is the culture we have here that’s different from any other company,” he says. That’s one of the things Papke says he learned from his mentor the late Terry Yamazaki, chairman and CEO of the parent Yamazaki Mazak Corp. “One of his favorite songs was ‘My Way,’” Papke says. “If there was a question about who to follow, his advice was, ‘Do it your way.’” – MIKE BOYER
www.BestofNKY.com
29