Forty Under 40: Gregg Ogden
by January 1, 2001 12:00 am 139 views
Gregg Ogden returned to Fayetteville to run the family business in 1996, following stints in Dallas and Atlanta as a hole-in-one insurance salesman. But his greatest ace was yet to come as he turned Athletic World Advertising into the world’s largest sports calendar poster company.
When Ogden, now 39, took over AWA, 11 employees filled the small offices that serviced about 15 local accounts.
Today, AWA has 270 employees and about 4,400 clients throughout the United States. During Ogden’s first year at the helm, AWA generated $680,000 in sales. Last year, that figure was about $16 million.
AWA has continued to expand its facilities, the most recent 7,000-SF addition bringing the total space to more than 40,000 SF.
Ogden founded the Nike Athletic Director of the Year Conference, which AWA sponsors annually in St. Augustine, Fla., at the World Golf Village Resort.
He is a board member with the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation, communications chairman for the American Heart Association and co-founder of the Ogden-Starr Experience France Foundation. Ogden’s donation to alma mater Fayetteville High School’s athletic department paved the way for the new Ogden Trumbo Track.