greenbaum-ga,
Thanks for sticking with the process as we worked things out.
Private companies generally value their privacy a great deal.
At one point in its history, Pro-Ed was a somewhat visible company, at
least in terms of press announcements about acquisitions and the like,
but in the past decade it has almost disappeared from the business
pages of the newspapers...quite possibly, a conscious decision on the
part of company management.
Here are the various items of information I was able to glean on
Pro-Ed, its management, and related entities.
I trust the information detailed below fully answers your question.
However, please don't rate this answer until you have everything you
need. If you would like any additional information, just post a
Request for Clarification to let me know how I can assist you further,
and I'm at your service.
All the best,
pafalafa-ga
===============
From a search of various business databases, such as Dun and
Bradstreet, Reference USA, Accoona, Lexis-Nexis, and others, I was
able to compile the following profile:
PRO-ED
8700 SHOAL CREEK BLVD
Austin, TX 78757-6897
Phone: (512) 451-3246
Fax: (512) 451-8542
OWNER: Donald D. Hammill
# of employees: 50-99 at a single location
Annual sales: $20-50 million
Credit rating: Excellent
Year established: 1965 (this it the year in business databases,
though TX state records indicate 1977)
Yellow Pages listing at least as far back as 1988
====================
A search of the Texas Secretary of State Corporation filings revealed
some additional details about Pro-Ed:
https://direct.sos.state.tx.us/acct/acct-login.asp
Texas SOSDirect
Pro-Ed Executives:
ROBERT K LUM VICE PRESIDENT
DONALD D HAMMILL PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR
J LEE WEDIERHOLT VICE PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR
Corporate Charter Date: May 11, 1977
Searching SOSDirect for other affiliations for Donald D Hammill, the
owner, president and a director of Pro-Ed, turned up the following:
Mark Filing Number Person Title Entity Name Entity Type Entity Status
DONALD D HAMMILL PRESIDENT,DIRECTOR PRO-ED, INC.
Donald Hammill Registered Agent SOCIETY FOR LEARNING DISABILITIES
AND REMEDIAL EDUCATION (Involuntarily dissolved)
Donald Hammill Registered Agent HAMMILL PUBLISHING COMPANY
(Forfeited existence)
Donald D Hammill Director DONALD D. HAMMILL FOUNDATION Nonprofit
Corporation (since 1987--Weiderholt listed as Director from inception)
Donald D Hammill Director HAMMILL INSTITUTE ON DISABILITIES
Nonprofit Corporation
Donald D Hammill Registered Agent HAMMILL INSTITUTE ON DISABILITIES
Domestic Nonprofit Corporation
There is also mention of a Hammill Interests Inc, as a prior name for Pro-Ed Inc.
====================
Here's a bit of information on the Donald D Hammill Foundation:
http://archive.naccho.org/Funding-Guide/August-2004/Texas.pdf
Donald D. Hammill Foundation
8700 Shoal Creek Blvd.
Austin, TX 78757-6816
Telephone: (512) 451-0784
Contact: Cindy Thigpen, Secy.-Treas.
E-mail: ddhfound@aol.com
Purpose and activities: Giving limited to nonprofit organizations
providing assistance to financially disadvantaged disabled or learning
disabled individuals; also awards research scholarships to individuals
working at the dissertation level in the area of special education.
Geographic focus: Texas
Limitations: Giving primarily in the Austin and Travis County, TX,
area; scholarships are given on a national basis.
===============
There are many mentions on the web of publications by Pro-Ed. I have
not included these here (but I certainly can, if you're interested),
except for this one, which includes the name George W. Hynd,
apparently a senior person at Pro-Ed:
http://www.thetransitioncenter.org/page.asp?page=content/Resources/journals.html&pagetype=visitor
Journal of Leaning Disabilities
George W. Hynd, EdD, Editor
PRO-ED
8700 Shoal Creek Blvd.
Austin, TX 78757
(512) 451-3246
(800) 897-3202
Fax: (512) 451-8542
www.proedinc.com
===============
I have access to a large number of newspaper databases going back many
decades, including the Austin Statesman.
Pro-Ed received numerous brief mentions in the press in years past
regarding their business activities, but later mentions are almost
always limited to foundation and charity work, rather than the core
business of the company.
Here are excerpts from the most in-depth mention, from the Austin
Statesman of 1989:
=====
February 13, 1989
TOP SHELF - Number of area publishers speaks volumes about Austin's
reputation as literary capital
...One of the most aggressive publishers in town is Pro-Ed Inc., a
12-year-old company that specializes in tests, journals and
college-level textbooks on special education.
...Instead of simply setting up distribution deals with smaller
mom-and-pop publishers as Texas Monthly does, Pro-Ed buys the company
and its already published books, thereby avoiding the costs of
developing books on its own.
..."We have found it better to grow by acquisition than to actually
sit down and commission manuscripts,'' said Pro-Ed president and
Austin native Donald Hammill, who holds a Ph.D. in special education
from UT. ``For an obvious reason: To build a book from scratch is
labor intensive. It means you have to have a copy editor and graphics
people and production people, all committed to the production of this
book. Rather than do that we will buy the company.''
...Pro-Ed's most recent acquisition was in January when it purchased
Ednick Communications Inc. in Portland, Ore., along with 25 titles. In
1988, Pro-Ed had a backlist of about 600 active titles, and gross
sales of between $8.5 million and $9 million a year, $2 million of
which were book sales, the company said.
...Pro-Ed, which employs about 40 people in Austin, maintains a full
production staff to keep books in print and has produced about 50 of
its own titles from start to finish, Hammill said.
=====
Lastly, here is a list (fairly comprehensive, from the looks of it) of
publishers of educational materials that have an emphasis on special
ed:
http://ericec.org/fact/publsher.html
Publishers of Special Education Material
Pro-Ed is included on the list, and these would certainly appear to be
Pro-Ed's primary competitors in the business.
===============
That's all I was able to uncover. It's fairly slim pickins, but this
appears to be a company that relishes its low profile.
Let me know if there's anything else I can do for you,
pafalafa-ga |
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