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"Selling America: Doing Business in the International Marketplace"
Honorable Richard DeVos
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Planned Remarks:
Richard DeVos reflected upon his early career when, over 60 years ago, he was promoting the Ja-Ri Corporation, distributing products on a direct sales basis, and how the U.S. can apply this same entrepreneurial effort overseas today.
DeVos also described Amway, its success story around the globe as a marketing empire with sales at $9 billion annually with 3 million people selling Amway products in over 100 countries. He will tell of the Amway model for global sales which can be used by all U.S. companies to promote, market and sell products internationally, along with manufacturing components on U.S. soil.
DeVos told of the success of the NBA Orlando Magic Basketball team, and how this top sports organization is another fine example of marketing and image building used to promote an internationally-accepted brand. He applied this same business philosophy to U.S.-owned companies so they can successfully promote and market their products in foreign countries.
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Speaker's Biography:
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| Richard M. DeVos
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Richard M. DeVos, co-founder of the Amway Corporation, is owner of the Orlando Magic and a philanthropist and motivational speaker.
In 1959, DeVos founded Amway Corp. with his lifelong friend and business partner, the late Jay Van Andel. The direct selling company now operates in more than 80 countries and territories around the world, and enables more than 3 million people to own independent businesses.
DeVos also has owned a number of professional sports franchises, including the Orlando Magic of the NBA. He is the author of four books: Believe!, Compassionate Capitalism, Hope from My Heart: Ten Lessons for Life, and Ten Powerful Phrases for Positive People . A renowned speaker, he has appeared before hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. His recorded talk, "Selling America," received the Alexander Hamilton Award for Economic Education from the Freedoms Foundation. After receiving a heart transplant in 1997, he became chairman of the Speakers Bureau for United Network for Organ Sharing.
DeVos and his wife, Helen, generously support hospitals, colleges and universities, arts organizations and Christian causes in their hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich., and they support numerous organizations in Central Florida. Among the many institutions they have helped create are DeVos Children's Hospital, the Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences, the DeVos Communications Center at Calvin College, the DeVos Campus of Grand Valley State University, and the DeVos Place convention center. Florida contributions include the DeVos Sport Business Management Program at the University of Central Florida, and the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation. DeVos is a graduate of Grand Rapids Christian High School and attended Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. He served in the United States Air Force from 1944 to 1946.
Rich and Helen have four children and 16 grandchildren. Their youngest son, Doug, is president of Amway.
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World Affairs Council of the Florida Palm Beaches
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