[3] Graves acquired stereotype plates from the North and began printing bibles for sale in August 1861.
[3] After the 1864 Battle of Nashville resulted in a Union victory, Graves relocated to Memphis, as he felt vulnerable because of articles he had published against the North.
[3] In 1868, Graves discontinued the company’s mail order business, and began training young men as independent dealers to sell bibles and educational books door-to-door as a way to earn money for college.
[5] In 1975, Times-Mirror formed a fund-raising company called Nashville Educational Marketing Services under Southwestern, later to be renamed Great American Opportunities.
[5] Southwestern earned position 4,832 on the Inc. 5000 list in 2012 of the fastest growing private companies in the United States.
[8] Bedford had been with Southwestern Family of Companies for 49 years, served as chairman of the board, and previously held the CEO position.
[8] After the leveraged buyout in 1982 from Times-Mirror that formed Southwestern Family of Companies continued to expand.
The conglomerate’s businesses include consulting, financial services, real estate, and executive search.
[10] GEC also sponsors work and travel visas for international students who participate in the Southwestern Advantage summer program.
[16] The Group helps teams, companies, and individuals grow personally and professionally using the Definite Dozen program, a 12-step guide to success created by Pat Summitt.
[19] Since 1868, Southwestern Advantage has operated a direct marketing sales program that recruits and trains college and university students as independent contractors.
The company recruits a few thousand American and a few hundred European university students to sell educational books, software, apps, and subscription websites during the summer.
[23] This company was founded in 2018 by David Stuart, an alumnus of the Southwestern Advantage internship program.
[24] This company was acquired as FRP, Inc. (originally a 1961 imprint Favorite Recipes Press in 1982 by Fuller and Dees as a custom book publisher focused on cookbooks to be sold for fundraising purposes.