Springfieldian is 'Great Game' winner

The Springfield Area Chamber chose Jack Stack for his leadership

Entrepreneur and innovator Jack Stack was named the 2000 Springfieldian by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce Jan. 28.

Stack, president and chief executive officer of SRC Holdings Corporation, received the honor for his outstanding leadership, according to a release from the chamber.

SRC Holdings Corp. oversees 23 subsidiary businesses, Springfield ReManufacturing Corporation, ReGen and NewStream among them.

Stack and other employees purchased Springfield ReManufacturing from International Harvester in 1983 after the company announced that it would close the plant here. Since that time, the company has grown to include a family of subsidiaries. Most of SRC's plants remanufacture engines, generators, alternators and electrical components for the automotive and heavy machinery industry.

Stack is also co-author of "The Great Game of Business," a book on which a variety of seminars and training programs have been based. The "Great Game's" open-book management techniques are followed in each of SRC Holdings Corp.'s businesses. The program has been featured on CBS and PBS television programs and was the recipient of the National Business Ethics Award and the Business Enterprise Trust Award.

For its award presentation, the chamber prepared a video featuring acquaintances of Stack's. Becky Lane, his secretary, said in the video that Stack has built her self-confidence by asking for her input.

"You always know he's going to ask you what you think," Lane said.

Stack's wife, Betsy Stack, said his contributions to the community are evidence that he wants to leave this world a better place, a sentiment echoed by "Great Game" co-author Bo Burlingham, who also said Stack enjoys creating jobs and innovating.

SRC has been instrumental in job creation in the Springfield area throughout its history. In April 1999, Stack announced SRC's Heavy Duty plant would add 200 jobs and ReGen, a partnership with John Deere, would add about 100.

Stack is a regular columnist for Inc. magazine, is on the boards of Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Institute, The Bank, Safety Council of the Ozarks and several other corporations. He received the Curt Strube Business Ethics Award and is chairman of the Springfield Public Schools' A+ Schools Committee and vice president of the Springfield Business and Development Corporation.

The Springfieldian Award has been presented each year since 1957.