Three business leaders who personify the abundant opportunity in the state of West Virginia have been named to the West Virginia Business Hall of Fame.

The 2012 inductees are J. Thomas Jones, President and CEO of the West Virginia United Health System; Dr. Julie M. Smith, co-founder and senior partner of CLG (The Continuous Learning Group, Inc.), as well as three other businesses in north central West Virginia; and J. Brett Harvey, Chairman, President and CEO of CONSOL Energy, Inc. The three will be inducted into the West Virginia Business Hall of Fame at the Waterfront Place Hotel in Morgantown on November 8 at a public ceremony.

The Hall of Fame was established in 2001 by the WVU College of Business and Economics to recognize those whose impact in the realm of business is truly worthy of acclaim. Inductees must have established a record of distinction in their field and industry in the categories of national or international businesses, state-based enterprises or entrepreneurial and family businesses. They must also have connections to West Virginia, either by birth, residence, education or business presence. This year’s class brings the total to 54 individuals who have been inducted.

“The West Virginia Business Hall of Fame is a great way to recognize individuals who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and commitment to community,” said Dr. Jose ‘Zito’ Sartarelli, Milan Puskar Dean, WVU College of Business and Economics. “These individuals have made significant contributions in many ways to our state, and they remind us of the tremendous opportunity for economic success, in West Virginia.”

Sartarelli said that public recognition for renowned business leaders, as well as establishing a record of their illustrious achievements, is important for many reasons. They also serve as role models for our state’s business students, those just beginning their careers and for new entrepreneurs, Sartarelli said.

J. Thomas Jones

After receiving his bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1971 from the WVU College of Business and Economics, the Glendale, W.Va., native continued his education at the University of Minnesota, receiving his master’s degree in Hospital Administration in 1973.

Jones began his career as an assistant administrator at the Wheeling Hospital. By 1990, he was Executive Director and CEO of St. Mary’s Medical Center in Huntington, W.Va., and when the company grew into the Genesis Hospital System, he remained CEO. In 2002, Jones began his current position as President and CEO of the West Virginia United Health System, the state’s largest healthcare system including West Virginia University Hospitals, Camden Clark Medical Center, United Hospital Center, WVU Hospitals-East, United Physicians Care and the Health Partners Network. The West Virginia United Health System employs more than 11,000 people and has an annual budget of $1.5 billion with assets of $1.9 billion.

Jones is the only healthcare executive to ever chair the West Virginia Business Roundtable, an organization of CEOs throughout the state. He has served on numerous boards locally and statewide and chaired many of them, including the West Virginia Hospital Association, where he was presented the Excellence in Leadership Award; the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission; the Morgantown, Wheeling, Huntington and West Virginia Chambers of Commerce; West Virginia 21st Century Jobs Cabinet; the West Virginia Woodburn Society; and the WVU College of Business and Economics Capital Campaign Volunteer Committee. He has also served as an instructor for a leadership development course at WVU.

Jones’ hospitals have received a number of national awards, including Top 100 Hospital, Top 100 IT Wired Hospital, Best Employer in West Virginia, Top 100 Heart Hospital, Magnet Nursing Hospital and AARP Best Employer. He served on the West Virginia State Ethics Commission for several years, and has added Codes of Conduct to all of his hospitals. On a personal level, Jones has won awards such as the Top 10 Most Influential Business Leaders in West Virginia, Who’s Who in West Virginia Business, Huntington Citizen of the Year and the Governor’s Commendation for Service.

He is a Fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives, the highest professional level of achievement in healthcare administration, and has continued learning through executive education at the Wharton CEO Program for Hospital Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Julie M. Smith

In addition to co-founding the Continuous Learning Group, a global leader in behavior-based strategy execution and performance improvement counseling with 140 consultants located on six continents, Dr. Julie Smith is also a founder or co-founder of three other businesses in north central West Virginia, and serves as CEO of two of them.

Smith’s other ventures include LifePath, LLC, a provider of personal change products to help readers progress from change resistance to change resilience; ChangeMatters, LLC, which creates workshops and materials for helping employees deal with major change throughout their jobs and companies; and Heston Farm Winery and Pinch Gut Hollow Distillery, an entertainment venue in Marion County. She has also served as an adjunct faculty member at WVU since 1993.

Smith says her businesses are literally founded on the concepts she acquired during her graduate education at WVU, which include her master’s degree in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Behavioral Science from the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

She applies her vast knowledge of behavioral science to improve the performance of executives, leaders, employees and organization processes at client companies, many of which are on the Fortune 100 list. Smith has led her clients, including AT&T, 3M, Chevron, Dow, GE Plastics, JPMorgan Chase and WVU, to achieve outstanding results on improvement initiatives, streamlining work processes and coaching leaders to capitalize on their abilities and move organizations forward.

Smith’s businesses, which gross more than $30 million annually, have brought significant financial contributions and created jobs since 1993. Also an accomplished author, speaker, entrepreneur and thought leader in organizational behavior management, Smith is a member of several boards of directors, including the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies, WVU Hospitals, West Virginia Clinical and Translational Science Institute, WVU School of Medicine Visiting Committee and the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Board.

She also works with students in business and psychology at every opportunity by guest lecturing at WVU, enlisting students to participate in pilots of workshops and mentoring top level graduate students as CLG interns. She has been featured as a Distinguished Lecturer at the College of Business and Economics, and endowed the CLG Scholarship Fund to give back to the future generations of students in psychology.

Smith arrived in West Virginia in 1981 from Minnesota for graduate school. She never left and has called the state her home for 30 years.

J. Brett Harvey

CONSOL Energy, Inc. and its predecessor companies have operated in West Virginia since 1902. Today, under the direction of J. Brett Harvey, it is the leading coal and natural gas producer in the entire Appalachian Basin.

Upon joining the company in 1998, Harvey provided strategic direction by establishing safety as a company value, and in doing so has become an energy industry leader in safety. As a fourth generation coal miner, Harvey has often stated that “safety trumps production and profit.” Some coal companies lament increased regulations, but CONSOL welcomes the challenge, saying that their $200 million spent per year on safety efforts and compliance makes the company more productive. While buckling down on safety, Harvey has simultaneously been able to increase the value of CONSOL 10-fold, with approximately $3.7 billion in annual revenues. Under his leadership, CONSOL Energy realized a total shareholder return of approximately 616 percent.

Harvey is a 2009 member of the West Virginia Coal Hall of Fame, a recipient of the John E. Wilson Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Utah’s Mining Engineering Department, and a recipient of the Percy Nicholls Award, which is jointly presented by the Society for Mining Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc. and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for notable scientific or industrial achievement in the field of solid fuels.

After five years of working with the Kaiser Steel Company’s Sunnyside Mine in Utah, Harvey was elected Vice President and General Manager for Kaiser Coal of New Mexico. In the early ‘90s, he joined PacifiCorp Energy, Inc., one of the largest electric utility companies in the nation as Vice President of Mining, and was named President and CEO in 1995.

Harvey has served on numerous boards including the National Coal Council, Executive Committee of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America, Allegheny Technologies, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, U.S. Center for Energy Leadership and the Barrick Gold Corporation.

Under Harvey’s direction, CONSOL Energy was named one of America’s most admired companies in 2005 by Fortune magazine, and was named to Forbes’ 2010 “100 Most Trustworthy Companies” list. He also oversaw the construction of the new CONSOL Energy Center, home to the Pittsburgh Penguins and the first NHL arena to achieve LEED Gold Certification, a high standard of sustainability. CONSOL Energy remains one of West Virginia’s leading energy producers, employers and corporate citizens.
Harvey holds an honorary doctorate from Duquesne University.

For more information on the West Virginia Business Hall of Fame, please visit www.be.wvu.edu/hall_fame/index.htm .

-WVU-

rn/10/18/12

CONTACT: Bonnie Anderson, WVU College of Business and Economics
304.293.7812, bonnie.anderson@mail.wvu.edu

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