Tom W. Bedell

From dKosopedia

Category: Iowa Democrats

A fourth generation native of Spirit Lake, Iowa, Tom Bedell was a born entrepreneur. As a boy, he mowed lawns, delivered the Des Moines Register, and gave water skiing lessons to summer tourists. As a teenager, he taught guitar lessons and eventually started a business wholesaling guitars throughout a five-state region, opening two retail stores in Iowa, and operating a band-booking business.

He sold his business and entered college in 1968. As a student, he established an import company, designing and supplying clothing to several southwestern states. He graduated with a B.S. in Political Science in 1973 from Stanford University.

After three semesters at the University of Iowa Law School, Mr. Bedell helped in his father's campaign for U.S. Congress and moved in 1975 to Washington, DC, to manage Berkley Bedell’s congressional office. The following year, Tom established a political campaign consulting firm and created the Congressional Management Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping individual congressmen and the entire Congress become more effective and efficient in their operations.

At his father's request, in 1979 Mr. Bedell returned to Spirit Lake to become CEO of Berkley and Company, the family business. Since then, the company, now called Pure Fishing, has grown from $20 million in revenues to $270 million, and from a North American company to being the world's leading fishing tackle company in all markets outside of Japan. Pure Fishing has acquired a variety of fishing tackle brands and has 1,100 employees worldwide, marketing/sales divisions in more than 20 countries, and exclusive distributors in 77 others.

In addition to leading the company, now as its chairman, Mr. Bedell is a respected leader in America 's conservation and stewardship efforts. He created the Future Fisherman Foundation, was a founding member of the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council, chaired the American Sportfishing Association Freshwater Governmental Affairs Committee, and led the creation of the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation. He was awarded the Conservation Service Award by Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt in 1998 and received the Future of Fishing Award in 2004.

Mr. Bedell has taught in the Executive MBA program and sponsored the Bedell Entrepreneurial Center at the University of Iowa. His personal outreach in northwest Iowa includes creation of the Bedell Family YMCA at Okoboji and the realization of the SAMI Bedell Performing Arts Center, a planned addition to the Spirit Lake Community Schools. He has been a leader in the effort to Save Lakeside Lab and co-founded the University of Okoboji Foundation. Under his leadership, the Bedell World Citizenship Fund was founded toward making a difference in the lives of citizens throughout the globe.

(This entry was copied verbatim from the Iowa Board of Regents website.)

He was appointed to the Iowa Board of Regents in 2005, but resigned in December 2006 to protest the way that the search for a new President of the University of Iowa was handled.