Sam and Vicky Hunt of Burlington, N.C., received the Frank S. Holt Jr. Business Leadership Award during a special luncheon at noon, Tuesday, March 29 in the Woods Center, located at Rhodes Stadium on the Elon University campus. Details...
Frank S. Holt III, left, presented the award to Vicky Hunt, center, and Sam Hunt, right.
The award was established by Elon’s Martha and Spencer Love School of Business to recognize local citizens whose contributions to business and the community reflect the same progressive, visionary leadership exemplified by the award’s namesake. The late Frank S. Holt Jr. was president of Holt Manufacturing Co. and an active civic leader.
Sam Hunt is chairman and CEO of Hunt Electric Supply Co., which was started by his father, Rector S. Hunt Jr., in 1970. Vicky Hunt began working at the family-run business in 1977 as administrative manager and was named senior vice president in 1990 and president in 2001.
“My parents not only taught me the importance of being a good businesswoman, but that it was important to be a good citizen and to give back to your community,” said Vicky Hunt, who serves on Elon’s Board of Trustees and is a former member of the Love School Advisory Board.
Sam Hunt also pointed to the importance of good parents and good friends. He said he was lucky to know Frank Holt as a friend.
“I was fortunate to know him well,” said Sam Hunt, who served four terms in the N.C. House of Representatives and was N.C. transportation secretary from 1993-1995. “I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone with the people skills of Frank Holt Jr. Everybody wanted to be around him and wanted to be like him. You could always count on him.”
Elon President Leo M. Lambert said it was appropriate that the Hunts became the first husband-and-wife team to receive the Holt Award.
“I want to say how personally pleased I am that Sam and Vicky Hunt are receiving this award,” Lambert said. “Anyone who knows them knows they are a team in business, in government and in community service.”
Sam Hunt is an Army veteran who served in Korea. As a legislator, he led the effort to increase the interstate speed limit from 55 mph to 65 mph, and played a key role in the passage of a $9.2 billion highway construction program in 1989, which was the largest in state history.
As transportation secretary, Sam Hunt launched rail service between Raleigh and Charlotte with the Piedmont Train. In 1997, in recognition of his service to the state, a portion of Interstate 85/40 in Alamance County was named the “Sam Hunt Freeway.” He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from East Carolina University in 1965.
Vicky Hunt has served as chairman of the N.C. Film Commission and is a former board member of the Alamance Community College Foundation, American Red Cross and North Carolina Zoo. She earned an undergraduate degree in American Studies from Mary Washington College in 1972 and a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1974.
The Hunts have been active in efforts to protect animals and played a vital role in the recent construction a new animal shelter in Alamance County.