The late Billy Joe Miles (1939-2018), Don Penn Moore III, and Tommy Thompson were inducted Thursday into the Owensboro Business Hall of Fame.
Individuals are nominated for their outstanding civic and business contributions to the Owensboro area and recognized for their business excellence, entrepreneurial spirit, courageous thinking and action, inspiring leadership, community impact, and service as a role model.
The Hall of Fame is run by Junior Achievement of West Kentucky, an organization “dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for their futures, and make smart academic and economic choices,” according to their website.
Billy Joe Miles (1939-2018): Miles Enterprises
Suzanne Miles said that her father would be incredibly proud and honored to be inducted.
“For our mom, our family was her whole world. The whole world was my dad’s family,” she said. “I know he would be very humbled by this recognition. All the teachings of Junior Achievement are things that our father taught us in business.
When Billy Joe Mile was announced as an inductee in November, his eldest daughter, said “He introduced himself as a farmer, and that is where he started and that’s what he did. He developed lots of businesses in every area that we needed on the farm, not just for us, but for everybody that we were involved with.”
Short biography
Billy Joe Miles grew up living with his parents and paternal grandparents on their farm. He also spent a lot of time when he was young on his great grandparents dairy farm on the Ohio River. As he got older and they sold the dairy business to Velvet Milk, he spent more of his time working with his father and grandfather on the grain farm.
One of Miles’ first purchases was an Ohio County farm in 1962. In the 1970s fuel shortage, he entered the bulk fuel business then expanded to the convenience store business, and then the Express Lube business.
Miles turned his family’s farm supply business into one of Kentucky’s largest agribusinesses and owned a 40,000-acre ranch in Bolivia. Miles was president at Miles Farm Supply Inc. and Marathon Fuels, and owner of Miles LP Gas Inc. He also served as president of several organizations and businesses, and was also chairman of the board of Owensboro Health Regional Hospital as it made its transformation from Owensboro Mercy Hospital to what it is today.
Don Penn Moore III: Moore Automotive
Moore, who’s garnered numerous awards from other organizations over the years, said this honor was special.
“When people you’re around all the time honor you, there’s no greater honor. When somebody that you don’t know well honors you because you did something, they really don’t know who you are. You’re getting honored for a different reason. This is an honor because it’s with the people I love. So it’s a pretty great honor.”
Short biography
Don Penn Moore III grew up on the family farm in Maceo along with siblings Cynthia, David, and John. They raised tobacco, hay, cattle, and row cropped over 500 acres. When not working on the farm, he was washing cars or selling cars at the dealership, roofing, or cleaning pools.
After his college graduation, Moore was made general manager of the dealership. In 1986, in an effort to turn a 23-second commercial into a 30-second one, the phrases “It’s Hot Don” and “You can say that again” were added to a “Sizzlin’ Summer Savings” commercial. Later, “It’s Hot Don” was highlighted nationally as the most recognized regional tagline of any commercial in the nation.
Today, Moore is a partner with his family in six dealerships and 12 franchises (Chevrolet, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai, Toyota, Buick, GMC, Ford Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram). The Moore Automotive group is a five-generation family business that has grown from $17,880 in annual sales to over $215M in annual sales. Don Penn has a limited role with the company these days. His brother John runs it day-to-day, while their other brother David splits time between the car dealership and his main passion of farming.
Tommy Thompson: Thompson Homes
Thompson said that he knows inductees are chosen lightly, and he is grateful to be among the individuals who have been honored for their role in the local business scene.
“It’s incredibly humbling and an honor to be in the shadow of some of these laureates that have preceded me and so much that they’ve done to advance this community,” Thompson said. “It’s just really special. It’s kind of a surreal feeling and opportunity, and I’m very humbled by it.”
Short biography
Thompson worked on housing job sites and as a paper boy as a teenager. After attending graduate school at Indiana University for an MBA degree, he moved to Orlando, where he worked for a real estate development firm for 2 years.
Following this work in Florida, he then moved back to Owensboro and joined the family home building business. During his tenure as CEO of Thompson Homes Inc., his firm has provided thousands of housing/living opportunities for its citizens. He also established a property management company that today owns and manages over 2,000 apartment units in Kentucky and Indiana.
While working in the home building industry he became active in his local, state, and national home building associations. He has been inducted into the Kentucky and National Housing Hall of Fames. One of his most proud accomplishments was his company being selected to build a home in 7 days for a family as part of the hit ABC TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.
Outside of the homebuilding industry, he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives, where he served for 14 years.
