When John Beynon got back into the game, he hit the ground running.
President and chief executive officer of Hunt Valley-based Beynon Enterprises Inc., an international provider of athletic tracks, he founded the company in 2001, only months after retiring from managing an artificial turf business he helped merge with a company from Holland in 1999.
Since returning, Beynon and the organization that bears his name have installed more than 400 tracks around the globe.
“I really loved the challenge,” Beynon said. “I knew the business well and liked dealing with people.”
Across the United States, collegiate track and field powerhouses like Auburn, Stanford, Oregon, Arkansas and Louisiana State practice and have meets on tracks that Beynon?s company has installed. He prides himself on putting individualized attention into each one of his larger projects to meet the wants and needs of the athletic directors and coaches.
One thing that never changes is his dedication to quality. Maybe that is why the fastest 100 meters ever ran on U.S. soil were on a Beynon track.
“We want to make sure that [our clients] have their concerns addressed,” Beynon said. “Personal attention is very important.”
Before Beynon began his own business with partners Rod Paul, Mike Gasparvic and Chris Spitznas, he worked the flooring business in the early 1970s for Martin Surfacing. The company quickly evolved into a niche synthetic-flooring business; before long, they had their big break in 1990 when they supplied the running surface for the Goodwill Games. Following the string of success, the company merged with a Holland firm in the late 1990s, signaling the tail end of Beynon?scareer.
That is, until he got back into the game, and shortly brought one of his sons along with him.
“We are very similar in our approach; we are both very intense and aggressive so our styles meshed,” said Drew Beynon, director of business development for Beynon Enterprises. “Because we are so similar, it makes us a great complement to each other.”
John Beynon
» First job: Delivered newspapers as a 10-year-old
» Education/credentials: Bachelor of Science in math from Towson University
» Best job perk: Working with my son
» Daily e-mails received: 50
» Daily voice mails received: 25
» Essential Web sites: Checking the stock market and tarheelblue.cstv.com
» Career objective: Keep up the business? standard of work and land a contract for the United States Olympic trials
» Favorite gadget: My cell phone
» Hometown: Baltimore
» Birth date: Jan. 27, 1948
» Original aspirations: To be professional basketball player
» Sports/hobbies: Watching college basketball, especially North Carolina, golfing and visiting my grandchildren
