Kwame founder always ‘giving back’
By Alvin A. Reid of the American
One of the St. Louis region’s most successful, young African-American business owners and civic leaders will now join an illustrious roster of community minded individuals that have helped stage the Salute To Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Banquet.
Anthony “Tony” Thompson, founder, president and CEO of the Kwame Building Group, has been named general chairman of the annual event sponsored each year by the St. Louis American Foundation.
Serving as 2005 general co-chairs are attorney Frankie Muse Freeman and Anita Banks.
Thompson, who was honored as Entrepreneur of the Year during the 2002 Salute To Excellence in Business luncheon, has not missed a Salute to Education in a number years.
It is fitting that Thompson serve as general chair for the Salute to Education because he credits his family’s insistence upon his doing well in school for building the framework of his corporate success.
“Education is the most important thing,” he said in a recent interview with the American.
A graduate of University City High School, Thompson holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Architectural Engineering as well as a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Environmental Design from the University of Kansas.
He then earned his Master of Science Degree in Civil Engineering with a Construction Management Major from Washington University and his Master of Business Administration Degree in Finance from Webster University.
Prior to forming Kwame, Thompson served as project engineer for Anheuser-Busch Companies where he managed in-house designers on a variety of construction projects and provided field engineering for bottle line modernization at various breweries. In the capacity of a mechanical engineer at Monsanto Chemical Company, he provided design and construction management services for major process projects.
He and his wife, Kim, have endowed several scholarships for minority students at Webster University in his continuing quest “to always give something back.”
Thompson also liberally gives of his time.
He is a member of numerous civic, charitable and professional organizations and serves on the boards of several distinguished not-for-profit organizations including Barnes-Jewish Hospital, The Gateway Classic Foundation, United Way, Annie Malone Children’s Home, Black Leadership Roundtable, Regional Business Council, Wyman Center, Family Support Network, FOCUS St. Louis, Regional Commerce Growth Association, and the William L. Clay Scholarship Fund.
He is also a member of the Advisory Board for the School of Architecture and the School of Architectural Engineering at the University of Kansas as well as the School of Business at Webster University.
Distinguished co-chairs
Frankie Muse Freeman, counsel to the St. Louis law firm of Montgomery Hollie & Associates, LLC, has been a practicing attorney in state and federal courts for more than 50 years. She was staff attorney for the St. Louis Land Clearance and Housing Authorities from 1956 until 1970, first as associate general counsel and later as general counsel of the St. Louis Housing Authority.
In March 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated her as the first woman to serve as Commissioner of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for sixteen years, subsequently reappointed by Presidents Nixon, Ford and Carter, until July 1980;
Banks is a longtime community and civic leader and was the wife of the late state Sen. J.B. “Jet” Banks.
The Salute to Excellence in Education Scholarship and Awards Banquet begins at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9 at America’s Center with a reception. The dinner and program will begin promptly at 7 p.m., and post-banquet entertainment kicks off at 9:30 p.m.
Net proceeds are used to fund scholarships for local minority students.
VIP/Corporate tables of 10 are $1,250 or $125 per ticket.
General seating tables of 10 are $750 or $75 per ticket.
For additional information, call (314) 533-8000, extension 301.
