Acceptance speech: JA’s Atlanta Business Hall of Fame, 2004
I’m not sure I deserve to be inducted into the Atlanta Business Hall of Fame. Maybe the selection committee had a few beers before deciding, but don’t get me wrong, I am not going to give up this honor of a lifetime. I just want to thank the selection committee for the poor job.
I came to America in 1974 and worked day and night, often seven days a week and 16 hours a day – the typical immigrant workload. My first job here was cleaning the kitchen of a steak house in Indianapolis. Almost ten years later I started a cleaning service business, General Building Maintenance, to make money. Now the work is not about the money, but about responsibility.
Our first contract was for cleaning an office park. Eight years later, we bought the office park. The Atlanta Business Chronicle and the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce selected me as the small-business person of the year in 1992. Twelve years later, Junior Achievement calls with news about the Hall of Fame. I’m not lucky, nor particularly smart. I just followed the rule of success from my Lord like my hero, Mr. Truett Cathy: “It Is Easier to Succeed Than to Fail.”
Before I go on, I want to take the opportunity to thank my God, to whom this honor truly belongs. I want to thank to my family. My wife Kay molded me and helped me stay on track. My lovely daughter Kathy, who works for the New York Times, and my gracious son Jimmy – both endured while I was busy focusing on work. My stepdaughter, charming In-Young, is here with us, and I am glad she is a part of this ceremony. I wish my late father were here, and I really wish my late mother Chung Pyung-nim could be here. She was a great person, and the one who was most responsible for creating the Sunny Park who accepts this award today. I’ll tell you a little story.
Decades ago, my mother was selling hen eggs in a muddy street market in Korea. A customer asked her the price, and would she give a discount if he bought a large quantity — three dozen? My mother replied with a smile and offered him a discount. Then the customer asked if he could buy all her eggs. She told the customer she can’t sell all of them. Even though she is there to make money, she can’t abandon her responsibility to supply eggs to her regulars. The customer walked away without the eggs, and she missed a big sale.
Two years ago WorldCom, a client of my company General Building Maintenance, was three weeks away from filing for bankruptcy. Our dilemma: Should we keep sending our crews to their jobsites? We stood to lose $5,000+ daily if we did the work but didn’t get paid. Other service providers for WorldCom were already walking off their jobs to protect themselves.
We decided to continue providing the cleaning service. Our responsibility overrides the money we get from our work, and our responsibility is to deliver clean work spaces by dawn every day. Some of the people who make sure we live up to that responsibility are here today. Please help me recognize the leadership of GBM: Don Kim, president; Hans Foraker, vice president; and Donovan Wolf, controller. I am so proud of them and all of our teammates.
Ladies and gentlemen, responsibility and pride in workmanship are everything. I am proud to be a janitor, as my mother was proud to be a street merchant.
Americans, regardless of their heritage, are here now to live and work together . . . for a better future for our community, our nation, and the world.
I came to America because there is no place on earth like it. We are a country of freedom, plenty, and opportunity. We all have the responsibility to make America the best country it can be. Regretfully today, I feel as a nation we are lacking a sense of responsibility.
America today is sick and needs our care. Every American – from the classroom to the workplace to the boardroom to the halls of government – should start helping the nation recuperate from cultural chaos and individualism and excessive self-interest. We can’t afford to turn our backs on our nation or each other.
I am excited to be associated with Junior Achievement and the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Your contributions to the business community and the classrooms are remarkable, and I want to commend the programs you have for our future leaders. I would like to offer my service, Ms. Buchanan, to be a part of your continuing effort to heal this country. Call me, please.
And thanks again to the selection committee, Don Chapman and Ed Baker, for this great honor. I want to accept this recognition to show the immigrant community what can be done when we realize our responsibility as citizens.
By the way, WorldCom paid in full for our services before they filed for bankruptcy. They met their responsibility, as we met ours to them.
Thanks to all of you, my guests, and the leaders of the community. May God bless all of you, and God bless America.
