U of M School of Business Administration, Montana Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs honor entrepreneurs Liz Claiborne, Art Ortenberg and Dennis Washington

Husband and wife marketers Liz Claiborne and Art Ortenberg, and Missoula construction magnate Dennis Washington are the recipients of the 2004 Lewis and Clark Pioneer in Industry Awards, in honor of their entrepreneurial success and their sense of social responsibility.

Jeff Shay ([email protected])

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The 2004 awards are the first of what will be an annual presentation by The University of Montana, the School of Business Administration and the Montana Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs. The awards are to recognize world-class entrepreneurs who began with modest resources, excelled in their businesses and had a pioneering impact on their industry.

The groups this year selected more than 30 entrepreneurs who met the criteria, then narrowed the field to the three winners.

Claiborne and Ortenberg in 1976 founded Liz Claiborne Inc., a company that designs and markets an extensive range of women’s and men’s fashion apparel and accessories. The company generated more than $4.2 billion in sales in 2003 and reported an annual net income of $279.9 million.

The couple also founded the Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation that funds projects around the world to combat species extinction, habitat destruction and fragmentation, and resource depletion.

Dennis Washington is founder of Washington Group International, an organization with global operations in defense, energy and environment, industrial processes, infrastructure and mining.

It reported annual sales of $2.5 billion in 2003 and net income of $42.1 million.

Washington is well-known for his generosity to educational institutions, and The University of Montana football stadium bears his name. The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation has more than $12 million in assets and donates to a range of education, youth, senior citizen and human services groups.

The Montana Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs was created in 2002 to provide networking opportunities for Montana entrepreneurs, involve entrepreneurs in the School of Business, and create the critical mass necessary to promote entrepreneurship in the state.

Claiborne, Ortenberg and Washington will be honored at a banquet in Missoula on Oct. 6.