Posted February 7, 2008 -- JANICE BRYANT HOWROYD has been called many things during her illustrious career: innovative, trailblazing, stellar, focused, inspired, a true partner. She has won numerous awards, including the 2005 Spirit of American Enterprise Presidential Award and the 2007 Outstanding Entrepreneur Award.
All the accolades are understandable. As the founder and CEO of ACT•1 Group, the nation’s largest employment services conglomerate, Howroyd has displayed her business know-how and keen understanding of her clients’ needs – usually long before they knew what they needed and in less time than her competitors.
Howroyd transformed a small loan and a one phone-line company into a global, multi-million-dollar business. With the motto “pride in performance,” Howroyd and ACT•1 pushed beyond simple relationships with her customers to create lasting partnerships. “Never compromise who you are personally to become who you wish to be professionally,” she said in an interview. “That means you only do business with a company you’d send a relative to, and you look to work with companies you can get repeat business from. That’s how I measure success.” We measure success by naming Janice Bryant Howroyd – who through her tenacity, work ethic and foresight serves as an inspiration to all entrepreneurs (current and aspiring) – “THE BET HONORS” Entrepreneur of 2008.