SPRINGFIELD — Al Kasper, president and CEO of Savage Arms will receive the 2015 Distinguished Citizen Award at an April 28 gala, sponsored by the Western Mass. Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Andrew Card, a former Scout, past member of the Massachusetts State Legislature, and the longest serving White House Chief of Staff during the past 50 years, will be the guest speaker. The banquet starts at 6 p.m. at Chez Josef in Agawam.
Eugene Cassidy, who is president and CEO of the Eastern States Exposition and last year’s honoree, will present the award to Kasper at the event. Serving as chairman and master of ceremonies is John Maybury, president of Maybury Material Handling.
Kasper joined Savage Arms in 1996 as its vice president and chief financial officer and has quickly grown to be a strategic leader for the company. He has been the leader of the company’s manufacturing initiatives including process improvements, LEAN initiatives, and technology which have significantly improved revenues, operating margins and cash flow. Kasper has been instrumental and the driving force behind the company’s monumental leap forward in technology and operational systems development, which not only moved Savage into the 21st century as a first class manufacturer but also propelled it ahead of the competition as the indisputable leader in its segment of the industry. Prior to joining the company, he worked as a group controller and operations manager for The Conair Group, Inc. in Pittsburgh and an operations manager for divisions of Danaher and United Technologies Corporation. He received an MBA from the University of Massachusetts and a B.S. in Accounting from Western New England College.
Kasper currently serves on the board of several profit and non-profit companies, has taught Entrepreneurship at East Longmeadow High School for the past nine years and is an adjunct professor, teaching several courses in the Elms College MBA program.
Card has enjoyed a distinguished career, beginning in the mid-70s when he was elected to the Massachusetts State Legislature. Soon after, he was tapped by President Ronald Reagan to serve as deputy assistant to the President and director of Intergovernmental Affairs. Card later served in President George H. W. Bush’s administration as assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff, where he managed the daily operations of the White House. He would go on to be the 11th U.S. Secretary of Transportation before being selected by then President-elect George W. Bush to be White House Chief of Staff, a position he held for nearly six years, making him the second longest serving chief of staff in modern history.
A native of Holbrook, Massachusetts, Card previously served on the Franklin Pierce University Board of Trustees, helping to develop the university’s program in Mass Communication, named after fellow Franklin Pierce trustee and White House Press Secretary, Marlin Fitzwater. Card is the recipient of many honorary degrees, including one from Franklin Pierce University in 2002.
He served as dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University before being named president of Franklin Pierce University, the fifth president in the university’s distinguished history.
Card was a Life Scout and served on camp staff for many years with Harris Tanner.
Previous Distinguished Citizen honorees have included Denis Gagnon, David Glidden, Sheriff Mike Ashe, Peter F. Straley, Peter A. Picknelly, John Davis, David Southworth, Stephen Davis, Mark R. Tolosky, Chris Mensing, Mike Matty and Eugene J. Cassidy.
Western Mass. Council, BSA, includes Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, and Berkshire Counties. The council served 6,700 youth last year. This dinner is their largest fundraising event. For ticket information, contact David Kruse at 594-9196 x 7002.
