History of Southwestern Advantage
The precursor to Southwestern Advantage, Southwestern Publishing House was created in 1855 by Reverend James Robinson Graves. Even prior to the formal establishment as a company in the mid-1850s, the company was publishing religious pamphlets and tracts.
By 1868, Southwestern Advantage had begun to abandon the mail order business and try a more progressive form of sales: face-to-face in the family’s home. The change of business model after the Civil War was a result of the poor economy and lack of ways college students were able to pay for their education and expenses.
Evolution of Southwestern Advantage
Changing times brought significant advances, all for the positive growth for which Southwestern Advantage would be come to be known for. For example, W.E. Henderson and J.D. Henderson formulated and successfully implemented the concept of distributing profit to salesmen for each sale they made rather than an earlier approach of division of profits by teams.
The ability of the leaders of Southwestern Advantage, W.E. Henderson, J.B. Henderson, Dortch Oldham, Rich Penuel, and Fred Landers, to change and develop new skills ensured that company survived the Great Depression, as well as World War I and II.
Generations of experience have made Southwestern Advantage the company it is today – respected for the caliber of young people who are skilled while in college and nor after college.
Southwestern Advantage is an accredited charter member of the Better Business Bureau Bureau of Middle Tennessee and maintains an A+ rating. Southwestern Advantage is also a leading member of the Direct Selling Association in Washington, DC. In recent years, the company was awarded the esteemed Best in Business Award by the Nashville Business Journal. In 2010, Southwestern Advantage was ranked as the largest U.S. internship employer by CollegeGrad.com and featured on Forbes.com.
Southwestern Advantage is 100% owned by its employees
Southwestern Advantage is one of Middle Tennessee’s largest private companies and is entirely owned by its employees.
Our mission:
The mission of Southwestern Advantage is to be the best company in the world at helping young people achieve their goals in life. We help young adults to develop into strong individuals and successful businesspersons.