John Teets received his Ellis Island Medal of Honor in 1995. Through courageous and bold steps, he reshaped a $5 billion conglomerate with 48,000 employees into a more manageable $3.5 billion consumer goods and service company. He recognized that in order to keep up in a fast-paced world, readjustment is vital for a company to survive. Whatever the product or service, Teets is a hands-on CEO who concentrates heavily on the bottom line.

  Teets became Chairman of the Greyhound Corporation in 1981. Over the next 10 years, he restructured the company from a giant conglomerate into a streamlined company, thereby making it more profitable and more attractive to investors. First he sold the Armour meatpacking company in 1983 to ConAgra for $2 billion. He retained the consumer products business, which became known as the Dial Consumer Products.

  Teets' reshaping of the Dial Corp equaled success. From 1991 to 1996, Dial stock outperformed the S&P by almost 50%. Dial's service companies have become industry leaders. Greyhound Leisure Services is the world's largest operator of duty-free shops on cruise ships. Travelers Express is the nation's largest seller of money orders, which exceeds the U.S. Post Office. These are examples of John Teets' financial genius.

  Since he arrived in Phoenix over 21 years ago, Teets has committed to making a significant difference in the Valley. During his 15 years as Chairman of Dial Corp, Teets oversaw contributions to charitable organizations throughout Arizona which exceeded $36 million. In 1981, he created Dial's community giving program which provided $5 million per year for hundreds of charities and community projects. As the General Chairman for the Boys & Girls Clubs 50th Anniversary Campaign in 1996, he helped raise over $5 million in a ten month period.

  Along with supporting local charities and cultural activities, John Teets also made efforts to ensure that Phoenix would continue to be a profitable and growing city. In 1987, he helped keep the NBA Phoenix Suns basketball team in the Valley with a $6 million investment from Greyhound. As CEO of Dial, he helped sponsor the TV rights for the Phoenix Open; and under his leadership, Dial stepped up to the plate to become the first corporate investor of the expansion Major league Baseball Team, the Arizona Diamondbacks.

  In 1985, John Teets received the Business Leadership Award of the Harvard Business School Club of Arizona and the Silver Award in the Wall Street Transcript's "CEO of the Year" survey. In 1986, he was chosen CEO of the Year by Leaders, an international magazine of business and government and received the National Human Relations Award presented by the American Jewish Committee. In 1990, he received the Forbes Magazine Award as the Top Business Speaker of the Year and Order of the Crown by the Kingdom of Belgium.

  John Teets began his illustrious business career as an entrepreneur. He has now come full circle and though he retired as Chairman of the Dial Corp in 1997, has not retired from the business world. He has formed J.W. Teets Enterprises, a Phoenix-based real estate development and venture capital investment firm. Just two weeks after opening, he completed his first transaction of a 26-acre land parcel in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

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