HR0822 LRB094 15897 HSS 51120 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Gilbert N. Stein began his career in the dairy
3 business during high school, bottling milk in the basement of
4 his parents' farmhouse in Canton; by his senior year, he was
5 delivering 200 quarts a day in his Model T Ford and by his high
6 school graduation, he was making $125 a week; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Between 1937 and 1940, he was operating a dairy
8 and ice cream plant with a retail ice cream shop; in 1944, he
9 heard about people lining up for blocks in Moline to buy Dairy
10 Queen soft serve; in 1945, he signed an agreement with Harry
11 Axene, owner of the Dairy Queen store in Kewanee, that gave Mr.
12 Stein the territory rights to develop 46 counties in Central
13 Illinois; his first store was opened in Normal in 1946; and
 
14     WHEREAS, He went on to open stores in Urbana, Quincy, and
15 Springfield and acquired 17 additional counties north of
16 Peoria; in the late 1960s, he acquired the territory rights to
17 develop two-thirds of Missouri; it was during negotiating for
18 Missouri that Mr. Stein came up with the idea to form a group
19 of individuals involved in the Dairy Queen system that would be
20 interested in acquiring the rights from J.F. "Grandpa"
21 McCullough, the founder of the soft-serve concept who coined
22 the Dairy Queen name; in 1962, a verbal agreement was made with
23 the McCullough family and International Dairy Queen was
24 founded; and
 
25     WHEREAS, He went on to overcome technological challenges
26 and shifts in market trends and demands through carefully
27 researched pilot testing across populations and time; he
28 adapted and persevered through changing society and market
29 cultures and rose to meet his challenges with innovative
30 business solutions; he is recognized as a true visionary in the
31 business world; and
 

 

 

HR0822 - 2 - LRB094 15897 HSS 51120 r

1     WHEREAS, He valued higher education, but was unable to
2 avail himself of a formal university education; he displayed
3 tremendous energy from an early age and maintaned that energy
4 and vision across time; and
 
5     WHEREAS, In recognition of his contributions to the
6 principles and strategies of business franchising, mentoring
7 strategies for franchise managers, marketing prowess, and
8 contributions to the City of Springfield, to the State of
9 Illinois, and to the nation, Mr. Stein was conferred with an
10 Honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Illinois at
11 Springfield; therefore, be it
 
12     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
13 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
14 we congratulate Gilbert N. Stein on being conferred with an
15 Honorary Doctor of Letters, and we recognize his vision and
16 contributions to the State of Illinois; and be it further
 
17     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
18 presented to Mr. Stein as an expression of our esteem.