FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  APRIL 27, 2001

NORTH ARKANSAS COLLEGE SELECTS
BEN F. GARRISON FAMILY OF HARRISON
FOR 2001 PIONEER FAMILY AWARD

 

Benjamin Franklin Garrison had two favorite expressions to describe a highly successful enterprise, according to his son Sheridan.  He would either say, "That's a going Jesse!"  or "That's a fire-belching dragon!"

In retrospect, both sayings pretty well sum up the entire Garrison clan, dating back to Isaac F. Garrison.  A Revolutionary War veteran, Isaac moved from Tennessee to Ozark, Mo., with his son William in 1832 when he was 100 years old.  Isaac Garrison lived four more years after arriving in the Ozarks, but the impact of his descendents on the area and Boone County in particular has endured.

From Sept. 8, 1927, the day 20-year-old Ben F. Garrison bought the Coca-Cola Bottling Works in Harrison, until Feb. 9, 2001, the day FedEx Corporation completed its purchase of the publicly held American Freightways for $1.2 billion including debt, the Garrison family has made an incredible contribution to the overall prosperity of the area.

With Sheridan's sons Tom, as President and Chief Executive Officer, and Will, as Chief Operating Officer, still leading American Freightways, and with other family members in some of the key positions, the Garrison family's legacy continues.

But there are no free rides for family members; indeed they are expected to set a good example.  "Like the other American Team members, we can depend on them to do their part.  It's a team effort all the way, and each member is important to the team's success.  It is way bigger than the Garrison family.  We are blessed with lots of great people at AF," Sheridan Garrison says.

For its contributions to Harrison and the surrounding area, the Ben F. Garrison Family of Harrison will receive the 2001 Boone County Pioneer Family of the Year Award.  Jim Sprott, Chairman of the North Arkansas College Board of Trustees, will present the award to Sheridan Garrison on Saturday, May 12 at 10 a.m. during Northark's Commencement exercises and Dedication of the Bill Baker Amphitheatre.

"It's difficult to imagine any other family that has been responsible for creating more good jobs with great benefits over the years for residents of our area," says Dr. Bill Baker, President of North Arkansas College.  "The Garrison family's impact on Harrison, Boone County, and northern Arkansas has been tremendous."

Ben F. Garrison was born September 19, 1906, the son of Issac Daniel and Ida May Henley Garrison.  "His mother died when he was 10 years old," Sheridan says, "and they put him and his cousin, Logan Arnold, on a train to Wayland Academy in Wisconsin."

Ben eventually graduated from Peabody High School in Fayetteville, the school created for University of Arkansas education students to practice teaching.  He attended two years of college at the University of Arkansas, but he was back working for The Citizens National Bank in Harrison long enough to get this glowing letter of recommendation from its cashier, C.C. Alexander, about the time he bought the Coke sub-franchise:

Mr. Garrison comes from one of the oldest and most highly respected families in this part of Arkansas, and we are glad to recommend him as being a boy of good moral character, clean habits, and one of the most ambitious boys we have ever had in our employ, showing a great deal of initiative.

The same year he bought the Coke business, on December 1 Ben married the former Pauline Terry.  The future mother of Sheridan and his older brother, Ben Albert, was a graduate of Southeastern Oklahoma University and was in the process of teaching English and music for one year at Dardanelle.  She and her husband lived apart for nearly six months until she could fulfill her teaching commitment.  Pauline was born May 22, 1907, at Poteau, Oklahoma, to Joseph Sheridan Terry and Margaret Griffin Terry.

Upon learning that his son, Ben F., had married a school teacher at Dardanelle, Dan Garrison penned the following letter to his new daughter-in-law:

Dear Pauline:

We had Ben with us last night and he tells me of your "misfortune" and I hasten to welcome you.  I really hope that it will not be unfortunate for you but a life of real happiness for you both.  I trust you both will try to know each other better and that each may have the fullest confidence in the other at all times. Ben may be counted a bit mischievous at times but he means well and, in fact, I think he is a splendid young fellow and from what he has said often, I am sure you are a girl that I can gladly call daughter.  I am sorry that you were not with Ben last night and am looking forward to an early visit from you.  How about visiting us during Christmas vacation?  May God's richest blessings be on you both always.

Your father, Dan Garrison.

Ben Garrison sold his Coca-Cola sub-franchise and bought a Pepsi-Cola franchise in 1940.  "He was pretty resourceful," Sheridan remembers. "He worked like a mule all his life, but he also treated his employees well.  He was one of the few people in those days who worked his people a five-day week."

Both Sheridan and Ben Albert worked for their father in the soft drink business until he sold the company in December of 1953.  Sheridan, who attended the University of Arkansas and graduated with honors from its business school, was in Houston, Tex., two years later, working as a junior executive trainee with a retail firm, when he got a visit from his dad.

"Dad got the idea that he ought to buy Pete Harp's truck line," Sheridan remembers.  "But he would only do it if Ben and I would come to work with him.  I told him I thought he was crazy because he would have to deal with a lot of tough issues, but I wanted to get home so bad I would have done anything to make a living."

After operating Garrison Motor Freight with his sons for 11 years, Ben F. Garrison died March 28, 1966 at age 59.  In his obituary, he was recognized as one of Harrison's leading citizens, having served as president of the Harrison School Board, Harrison Chamber of Commerce, and the Arkansas Junior Chamber of Commerce, among many other civic activities.  His widow, Pauline, passed away August 7, 1988.

The trucking business Ben F. Garrison paid $100,000 for in 1955 had revenues that first year totaling $190,000.  In 1977 the company purchased Ben A. Garrison's interest in Garrison Motor Freight, narrowing ownership to F.S. Garrison and two family trusts.  By 1979 the company's revenues had grown to $20 million.

But there was trouble looming on the horizon.  The for-hire trucking industry had been under economic regulation since 1935, and the result over time was a safety net effect, causing shipping rates to be higher than they would have been otherwise.  So the nation could compete in a global economy, the industry was going to be deregulated.  Competition would be restored and would result in a blood bath.  Failing to obtain a labor contract that would recognize this issue caused Garrison to sell Garrison Motor Freight.

For the first time in his adult life, Sheridan says, he was out of debt.  He and his wife Cindy built a new home and retired, while a multitude of his former competitors went out of business.  "I bulldozed, chain sawed and bush-hogged ­- tamed the wilderness," Sheridan says with a smile.  But he wasn't content.  Achievers aren't satisfied until they've done their very best.

Like their father before them, Sheridan and Ben started over.  On October 25, 1982, a Monday morning, according to the company's 1998 Annual Report, "a small group of American Freightways people, with not much more than a pocket full of dreams and a vision for the future, set out on a journey."

The first year that small group of people worked long hours, six to seven days a week.  Like many other small entrepreneurs, Sheridan and Cindy Garrison mortgaged their home to help fund the business.

"It was scary," Sheridan says of the original Arkansas Freightways.  "The day we opened, we had 20 terminals and did $1,872 worth of business.  It was a disaster.  When I went to bed that night, I could hear my heart pounding away.  I asked myself if I had not learned anything about the trucking business the first time.  'Old boy, you may have just bought the farm,' I said."

But Sheridan heard something else, too.  In his memory, he could hear his father say, "When things get tough, reach down and get another gear."

Looking back, Sheridan says, "Jerry Jones, AF's Executive Vice President-Sales and Operations, put his arm around me one particularly rough day and said, 'Don't you worry ­- we'll make this thing work.'  That was perfect timing ­- I needed that."

He also had his brother Ben by his side.  "Ben was an excellent salesperson.  He had a steel-trap mind about knowing where the freight was going and who was carrying it," Sheridan praises.  "For our first two or three years, he and one or two other people were our pricing department."

During the company's fourth year of operation a nationwide insurance crisis hit the entire trucking industry.  The company's liability coverage was cancelled on short notice.  They said AF would not be able to replace the insurance.  Cindy Garrison worked around the clock to put together a presentation for insurance carriers that filled a three-ring binder four inches thick.  Her hard work paid off, and AF was able to replace its coverage just hours before the deadline.  "If we hadn't had her," Sheridan says of his wife, "we wouldn't have made it.  We are required by law to be insured."

Eventually, just like Ben F. Garrison in the 1950s and 60s, Sheridan and Ben had help from their children and other family members.  In addition to Tom and Will, at the time of the sale to FedEx, Sheridan's son Daniel was a Senior Account Representative in Texas.  Cindy's brother-in-law, Carl Thomas, is Vice President of Safety and Security.  Cindy's daughter, Tonya Maxey, is Vice President for Advertising and Promotion, and Cindy's son, Travis Ruff, is Director of Electronic Commerce Development and Planning.  Ben's stepson, Pat Brown, is Director of Properties and Corporate Architect.

The American Team of 17,000 members, including 1,000 at Harrison, has worked together to build AF from scratch to become the fourth largest individual LTL carrier in America with $1.435 billion revenue in 2000.  AF has not purchased any other carriers ­ the growth is all internal.

American Freightways is a unique organization.  It says "it is not in the transportation business ­- it is in the business of satisfying customers."  That viewpoint, part of the AF culture, just might be one of the reasons AF has grown so quickly and received so much recognition.

Eight of the last 11 years, AF has received the Nicholson Award for best annual shareholders report in the category of transportation.  It has been awarded NASSTRAC's multi-regional LTL carrier of the year award for six of the last eight years.  For 15 years in a row, it has received Logistics Management and Distribution magazine's Quest for Quality Award.

For three out of four eligible years, American Freightways was on Forbes magazine's list of 200 best small companies in America (which AF has now outgrown); it ranked number 127 of America's 400 Best Big Companies and No. 1 among trucking companies by Forbes magazine this year.  Named by Fortune magazine as one of the most admired corporations in America this year, AF has also received numerous individual company awards.  One of the most recent is Wal-Mart's national LTL carrier of the year for 2001.

The foundation of American Freightways' success, according to its founder, has been its people.  "People breath life into a corporation," says Sheridan, who recently received the Sam M. Walton Business College's Lifetime Achievement Award from the University of Arkansas and was the North Arkansas College Foundation's 1999 Ozarks Ambassador Award honoree among his numerous honors and awards.

"One thing I've learned from helping take this company to 40 states of all points coverage is that people are pretty much the same everywhere," he says.  "Extend them trust and respect, and they will return it to you many times over.  The great majority are good people who want to do a good job.  You've got to like people and you've got to believe people are the tie-breakers when it comes to competition in the marketplace.  Hire people for their hearts and minds, not their backs."

Now Chairman Emeritus of American Freightways and a member of the Federal Express Board of Directors, Sheridan Garrison looks back at the sale to FedEx with mixed emotions.  He's pleased with the 61% premium his company earned on the stock deal for its investors. But he had not planned on selling the company.  FedEx had pursued AF for over two years.

"They finally made an offer with price and terms so clearly in the best interests of our various constituencies that we had little choice but to sell," said Sheridan.  "They have been very good to work with.  Had we been for sale to begin with, they would have been my first choice.  I have long admired Fred Smith (Chairman, President and CEO of FedEx) and his professional management team.  In 30 years they have grown to serve 210 countries around the world.  Remember the old saying, 'you get about what you pay for'?  That applies in this case.  He paid a premium but got one heck of a company, the most unique LTL carrier in the business.

"The American Team consists of 17,000 individual members," he continues, "but I received only two complaints on the sale.  The prevailing attitude has been, 'If you say this is what we need to do, let's do it.'  I'm very proud of the American Team and how harmoniously they work together to take care of their customers and each other."

When Sheridan and Ben Albert were boys, their father would take them fishing for bass on Norfork Lake.  "We would troll all day long and he'd sing songs and quote poetry and never sing the same song or quote the same poem twice in the same day.  He had a tremendous memory, and he put it to work in business.  But his greatest contribution was the leadership he gave us by setting the example of hard work," Sheridan recalls.

Saturday, May 12 North Arkansas College will remember the contributions to the quality of life in our area made by members of the Ben F. Garrison Family of Harrison when they are presented with the 2001 Boone County Pioneer Family of the Year Award.

Recently, Sheridan Garrison was talking about the creation of American Freightways and quoted his favorite of his father's two old sayings: "We wanted to create a company that was a fire-belching dragon," he said, adding his own touch, "but with a heart and soul, and that translates to people ­- especially those people who have an overwhelming desire to serve others."

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