April 10th, 2013
In 1999, Dr. Richard Becherer and a group of community and business leaders began to plan an Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame to be housed at the UTC College of Business. The goal of the Hall is to honor Chattanooga entrepreneurs that represent both the early foundations of entrepreneurship in the region, as well as, current area entrepreneurs.
By celebrating this entrepreneurial legacy, the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame highlights this critical aspect of the economy and creates entrepreneurial role models and communicates an entrepreneurial perspective to current students.
A plastics innovator, Harshad Shah came to the United States from India in 1974 with only $8 in his pocket in pursuit of higher education and greater opportunities. Shah moved to Chattanooga in 1982 to assume an R&D management position at a plastics firm in Dalton, Georgia. In 1986, he started Hamilton Plastics with an innovative idea—to produce trash bags that would be twice as strong as the industry standard using half the material.
By 1990, Shah had built a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility that has won awards for its architectural design.
Since 1991, he has also been involved in the lodging and hospitality market and is President of the 3H group which manages and develops hotels throughout the nation. Shah also joined a group of local business leaders to organize and start Capital Mark Bank and Trust in 2006, and he serves on their executive board.
Shah has repeatedly been recognized for his business acumen and entrepreneurial success by the Chattanooga community, including: the Spirit of Innovation Award (2003); Small Business of the Year (2004); Manager of the Year (2008); and the Better Business Bureau's Torch Award (2011).
Excerpt and quotes from http://blog.utc.edu/news/2012/04/college-of-business-honors-pioneering-entrepreneurs