Aminy I. Audi

b. 1939

Aminy I. Audi, CEO and chairman of L. & J.G. Stickley, with her late husband, Alfred, purchased a struggling company with only 25 employees in 1974 and turned it into a thriving enterprise known throughout the world for its quality Arts & Crafts designs. Today, Stickley employs more than 1,500 people with three manufacturing plants, 14 company-owned stores and a strong network of leading retailers. An accomplished leader in an industry traditionally led by men, Mrs. Audi has led Stickley to growth by leveraging the company’s revered brand name, modernizing operations and carving a successful niche in the high end through a resurgence of interest in Arts & Crafts styling when Stickley reissued its historic Mission Oak collection in 1989.

Throughout her career, Mrs. Audi also has made a major impact on manufacturing operations, helping to direct the state-of-the-art construction and seven expansions of the company’s production facility in Manlius, N.Y. Today, the factory covers more than 400,000 sq. ft., runs two full shifts and has never had a layoff. A true workplace innovator, Mrs. Audi established an employee wellness initiative at Stickley, which includes a registered nurse onsite and one of the industry’s first smoking cessation programs. The company also awards an annual scholarship to the child of a Stickley employee who demonstrates excellence in academics and community service.

On the retail side of the business, Mrs. Audi oversees planning, staffing and merchandising of each store in Stickley’s retail division, Stickley, Audi & Co. In addition, her dedication to preserving historic brands led to Stickley’s purchase of Nichols & Stone, John Widdicomb, Heirloom Upholstery, Cibola Leather and Madison Square.

An active mentor and champion of the industry, Mrs. Audi has received the Legacy Award and the Woman of the Year in Manufacturing Award from WithIt (Women in the Home Industries Today) and with her husband, the Laurel Award for excellence from the International Furnishings and Design Association’s New York Chapter. Other honors include the Small Business Administration Entrepreneurial Success Award, the American Red Cross Women Who Mean Business Award and The Syracuse Post Standard Woman of Achievement in Business Award. She has served on the boards of the American Home Furnishings Alliance, Fine Furnishings International and the American Furniture Hall of Fame Foundation.

Early in her career, Mrs. Audi was a freelance writer and reporter for Voice of America. She served as a non-governmental delegate to the United Nations Conference on Human Rights in 1993 in Vienna and to the U.N. Conference on Women in 1995 in Beijing. She participated in the 1996 Women Leaders Summit in Washington, D.C., and has served as a trustee for the State University of New York, a system encompassing 64 campuses. She received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Colgate University in 2006. Mrs. Audi personifies her personal and business philosophy: Live with integrity, work hard and be passionate, positive and persistent.

John D. Bassett III

b. 1938

John D. Bassett III, chairman of Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co., is a champion of American-made furniture and the third generation to work in the furniture industry. Under his leadership, Vaughan-Bassett Furniture Co. sales have increased from $38 million in 1983 when he joined the company to more than $90 million today, the largest wood bedroom manufacturer in the United States.

With nearly 700 employees at plants in Virginia and North Carolina, Mr. Bassett believes that no one can outperform the American worker when given leadership, training and the best equipment. Mr. Bassett has reduced the percentage of imports to less than 2 percent of the company’s total sales and in 2012 oversaw an $8 million plant expansion, which included the purchase and reopening of a furniture factory. He has served as chairman of the Committee for Legal Trade which helped level the playing field for U.S. furniture manufacturers faced with unfair foreign competition and advocated for a critical Environmental Protection Agency rule change that benefits both the furniture industry and the environment.

After serving three years as an officer in the U.S. Army, Mr. Bassett began his career at Bassett Furniture Inds. in 1959, working in sales, marketing, manufacturing and management. Today, Vaughan-Bassett uses state-of-the-art equipment and systems to offer a wide selection of colors, finishes and sizes within each collection and Vaughan-Bassett Express (VBX), a quick-delivery program promises 7-day delivery on about half of the company’s line. Devoted to the work force, Mr. Bassett established the innovative Vaughan-Bassett Free Clinic for all employees and their families. Mr. Bassett also created Vaughan-Bassett’s “One for One” tree replenishment program, which has planted 900,000 trees throughout the U.S. during the past six years.

A champion of the industry, Mr. Bassett shares his knowledge about successful domestic furniture manufacturing through onsite visits with other U.S. manufacturers. His honors include the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) Distinguished Service Award, the InFurniture Magazine Man of the Year Award and the International Home Furnishings Representatives Assn. Pillar of the Industry Award. His board service has included the AHFA, International Woodworking Fair, and American Furniture Hall of Fame Foundation.

His community involvement includes serving as a board member of the Cherry Lane Volunteer Fire Department, the Bassett Volunteer Fire Department and the Martinsville/Henry County United Fund. Vaughan-Bassett also supports a free health clinic in Galax, the Galax Public Schools program which provides weekend meals to needy children, and the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. The John D. and Patricia Exum Bassett Foundation supports many worthy causes in Virginia and North Carolina.

Milo Ray Baughman, Jr.

b. 1923 d. 2003

Milo Ray Baughman, Jr. is widely recognized as a pioneer of mid-century modern furniture design whose unique and creative genius was combined with inventive engineering and manufacturing expertise. He formed Milo Baughman Design Inc. in 1947, creating collections for Drexel, Pacific Iron, Tropitone and Glenn of California in the burgeoning California Modern style. In 1953, he forged a 50-year collaboration with upholstery manufacturer Thayer Coggin Inc., an extraordinary partnership between designer and manufacturer that brought acclaim to both.

Mr. Baughman’s works were highly lauded during his lifetime and continue to be revered today as timeless, iconic designs. Over the course of his career, he received three awards from the American Institute of Interior Designers (AID, now known as the American Society of Interior Designers). Many of his designs were selected for the Museum of Modern Art’s Good Design program, and his work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of Art, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art and North Carolina Museum of Art. In 1987, Mr. Baughman received the Distinguished Designer Award from the American Society of Furniture Designers and was inducted into the Furniture Designer’s Hall of Fame.

A native of Long Beach, Calif., Mr. Baughman was creative from a young age. When he was 13, his parents challenged him to develop an architectural plan for both the exterior and interior of the home they were building, where they lived for 34 years. As a young man, Mr. Baughman served in the U.S. Army Air Forces, where he periodically was commissioned to design officers’ clubs, and then studied at the Art Center School of Los Angeles (now the California Institute of the Arts). He worked as an interior and custom furniture designer for Frank Brothers, the preeminent West Coast all-modern furniture store in the mid 1940s, before opening his design firm. By the early 1950s, his work was being praised by The New York Times and other important critics.

Known for his kind and generous heart, Mr. Baughman was active in his faith and in the community. He volunteered in hospitals and counseled prison inmates. He helped with urban and town planning, refurbished the interiors of nursing homes and prisons, and served as a consultant for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A scholar and educator, he founded and was head of the Department of Environmental Design at Brigham Young University. He also taught at UCLA and the California Institute of the Arts and served as a guest lecturer at the Rhode Island School of Design, N.C. State University, University of Wisconsin and Oregon State University. He also designed the interior furnishings for the High Point Theatre.

Mr. Baughman created his final collection for Thayer Coggin — Studio MB — just two months before his death at age 79. Today, demand for Milo Baughman designs continues to grow. The market for vintage Milo Baughman pieces is exploding online, while his classic designs — reintroduced by Thayer Coggin — are distributed by fine retailers and design showrooms.

A. Leon Capel, Jr.

b. 1931

A. Leon Capel, Jr., an innovator in the rug industry for nearly 60 years, led Capel Inc., America’s oldest rug manufacturer, from 1954 until his retirement in 2005. Working together with his five brothers, he led the company founded by his father in Troy, N.C., in 1917 through a remarkable period of growth. Under his direction, Capel expanded from two to five factories and from $1 million to $55 million in sales worldwide, employing 800 in a town of only 3,200.

A visionary leader in rug manufacturing, sales, design, display and marketing, Capel Inc. was for decades the only rug manufacturer with its own spinning mill (Capelsie Mills), weaving division, dye house and sales force, as well as showrooms in 10 U.S. cities. In 1965, as a result of his foresight, Capel became the first rug manufacturer to fully computerize inventory, accounts, payrolls, payables and receivables. The company also was the only rug manufacturer to successfully sell retail powerhouses Sears, Montgomery Ward, J.C. Penney and Spiegel — all major competitors with each other — at the same time. A master of creativity, Mr. Capel is known for devising unusual promotions to drive showroom attendance at markets. He also is recognized for developing innovative in-store rug display racks, now considered the industry standard.

Until his retirement in 2005, Mr. Capel served as executive director and board chairman for Capel Inc., as well as executive director of Capelsie Mills Inc., Capel Real Estate & Development and U.S. Rug Co. The company has maintained a showroom in High Point from 1954 until today, marketing and exporting rugs throughout the world. The company has received multiple awards over the years for its excellent customer service.

Widely known as “someone everyone would like to work for, Mr. Capel has generously supported the industry, serving on the Governors Travel Council for Exports to Europe, Far East & South America from 1965 to 1985. He was Floor Covering Advisor to High Point/Market Square and to the Atlanta Merchandise Mart. He served with the N.C. Department of Commerce for Domestic Exports and with the National Home Furnishings League in Dallas. He has mentored many and continues to visit home furnishings markets and speak at civic clubs and schools.

Mr. Capel’s love for the arts has led to the company’s support of the N.C. Symphony, as well as Trinity Music Academy, which provides local children with free instruction in 19 instruments. A U.S. Army veteran, Mr. Capel has served on the Board of Trustees and Board of Visitors of the University of North Carolina and as a past director for the N.C. Energy Policy Council. He has served the Montgomery Memorial Hospital, U.S. Carpet Golf Trade Assn., Troy Rotary Club, Montgomery United Services, Troy Industrial Development Commission, Trinity United Methodist Church, Montgomery County Boy Scouts of America, Save Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, First Health Hospital, Montgomery County Elephant Club, and was county chairman for two North Carolina governors — James Holshouser and Jim Martin.

Hassel H. Franklin

b. 1935

Hassell H. Franklin, chairman and CEO of Franklin Corp., launched a small, family-owned business in 1970 and built it into one of the largest, privately owned furniture manufacturers in the nation, achieving double-digit growth nearly every year since its founding. Today, Franklin employs a workforce of 1,300 that produces a diverse line of American-made upholstered motion furniture sold throughout the world.

Innovative strategic planning is a cornerstone of Mr. Franklin’s success. More than 43 years ago, when he approached local banks to finance his startup company, he presented a three-year plan – and then accomplished in just nine months. Mr. Franklin is known for his visionary use of vertical integration and lean manufacturing techniques. In the 1990s, he was among the first in the industry to convert his frame mill from a manual cut-and-sew operation to a more efficient computer numerical control-driven system. Today, the company’s 75-acre campus includes a metal stamping facility, foam fabrication plant, dimension mill, recliner plant and motion sofa plant, as well as a logistics company and a fully equipped research and development department. Leadership classes are held for front-line supervisors and as a debt-free company, attention is focused on the customer experience, quality products, exceptional value and quick delivery.

An enthusiastic industry supporter, Mr. Franklin established a $1 million endowment at Mississippi State University to help build the Franklin Furniture Institute, a research and training center benefitting the furniture community. He has served as president and board member of the American Furniture Manufacturers Assn. (now the American Home Furnishings Alliance) and as a board member of the Furniture Foundation and the Mississippi Manufacturing Assn. He has received the AHFA Distinguished Service Award and Industry Service Award from the Upholstered Furniture Action Council. Mr. Franklin was elected to the Mississippi Business Hall of Fame.

Mr. Franklin grew up on a small farm and was a public school classmate of Elvis Presley in Tupelo. He served in the U.S. Army, where he commanded the company that protected James Meredith during the integration of the University of Mississippi. He was the Mississippi State Alumnus of the Year, as well as the Itawamba Community College Alumnus of the Year; is past president and board member of CREATE Foundation, the largest community foundation in Mississippi; and is a major supporter of the Boys’ and Girls’ Club, Regional Rehabilitation Center, United Way of Northeast Mississippi and Sanctuary Hospice House. He served as lead director of BancorpSouth, as well as on the boards of the Mississippi Economic Council, North Mississippi Health Services, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal Publishing Co., Journal Publishing Houston, Commission on the Future of Northeast Mississippi, Community Development Foundation and Community Relations Assn. He has served on the boards of the Mississippi State University Development Foundation and its Athletic Foundation, and the Itawamba Community College Foundation.

Eugene Rosenberg

b. 1935

Gene Rosenberg, a founder of Bob’s Discount Furniture and Planned Furniture Promotions, and a partner in the revival of Boyles Furniture, has combined hard work and perseverance with his love for the furniture industry. He cofounded Gene Rosenberg Associations (GRA), now called Planned Furniture Promotions, the country’s largest furniture promotion firm. He also cofounded Bob’s Discount Furniture, growing the chain to the 15th-largest U.S. furniture retailer with sales of $685 million.

The epitome of the “self-made” man, Mr. Rosenberg grew up in a modest apartment above his parents’ grocery store in Hartford, Conn. He started his furniture career as a bookkeeper in a local furniture store, earning $40 a week, and was soon promoted to store manager. Leo Kaufman, the father of his future business partner, told Mr. Rosenberg about an appliance store named Norman’s that needed his help. Within three years, annual sales grew to more than $3 million.

In 1962, Mr. Rosenberg and Paul Cohen started Gene Rosenberg Associates. Over the past 50 years, GRA has assisted more than 6,000 retailers with high-impact sales that have enabled them to survive, reorganize or close without extensive debt.

In 1991, Mr. Rosenberg and Bob Kaufman purchased a five-store waterbed chain, transforming it into a retail store offering high-quality furniture at affordable prices in a friendly atmosphere. Today Bob’s Discount Furniture consists of 43 stores located from New England to Virginia, with sales of nearly $700 million. When 70 percent of the company was sold in 2005 to an investment group, Mr. Rosenberg continued as a major stockholder and as an active board member. Recently, he and his partners re-launched the Boyles retail brand in North Carolina.

An active contributor to his community, Mr. Rosenberg enjoys helping those in need. He founded Camp Rising Sun for children stricken with cancer so that they can enjoy a week of carefree activities. He also founded and continues to oversee the Bob’s Discount Furniture Foundation, which has raised more than $3 million for dozens of children’s charities. Other groups that Mr. Rosenberg supports include the Connecticut Children's Hospital, the American Red Cross, The Jimmy Fund, The Chabad House, The Bess and Paul Sigel Hebrew Academy, Hartford Hospital, Solomon Schechter Academy, the Jewish Federation, the Gene and Anja Rosenberg Rehabilitation Center at Hebrew Health Care and City of Hope.

Mr. Rosenberg serves on the boards of Hebrew Health Care, The Chabad House and Big Brothers & Big Sisters. He and his wife, Anja, received the Human Relations Award from the National Conference for Community and Justice, and the Torch of Liberty Award from the Anti-Defamation League celebrating families with a tradition of community service.