Corrections or additions?
This article by Barbara Fox was prepared for the December 5, 2001
edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights reserved.
Life in the Fast Lane
An antidote to all those shoot-em-up software games,
Moon Tycoon, could be a hot item for this holiday season. Moon Tycoon
was invented by four principals at Whitehurst Industries, based at
Pennington Point West. Players build roads and cities and create mines
to provide the building blocks for houses and skyscrapers as they
compete to be the low-gravity version of Donald Trump. Distributed
by Vivendi, one of the world’s largest computer-game wholesalers,
the game sells for $19.99 at Best Buy.
The game, the company, and the four young men — Alex Jamieson,
Joseph Cho, John Whitehurst, and Tim Whitehurst — are being
promoted
by Bryan Thomlison, formerly a senior executive at Church & Dwight.
“These young Whitehurst guys are so fresh, and they operate at
such a high level of integrity, but they need marketing,” says
Thomlison.
Among the Whitehurst clients are Princeton University and Pilsner
Urquell, and they have subcontracted work for the websites of
Bristol-Myers
Squibb and the Small Business Administration.
Thomlison’s new company, Princeton Strategic Management Inc. (PSM),
shares space with the Whitehurst four. Thomlison went to the
University
of Alberta in Edmonton, Class of ’68, and has his MBA from York
University
in Toronto. He began social venturing programs in Canada when he was
in charge of Canadian marketing Church and Dwight. “It was so
successful they brought me down here to replicate it,” says
Thomlison.
When a management change resulted in elimination of 20 percent of
the Church & Dwight work force, he began a new career as a consultant.
“It was devastating emotionally, but it has turned out to be very
good. In an entrepreneurial world, I don’t make as much money but
I have a lot more fun,” he says.
With Thomlison at PSM is David Breithaupt, another former Church &
Dwight executive. With a BA from Yale and an MBA from Columbia,
Breithaupt
has also had management positions with Colgate Palmolive and Warner
Lambert and was most recently vice president of MarketSource
Corporation
at Exit 8A.
PSM is heavily involved in social venturing, as were Thomlison and
Breithaupt at Church & Dwight. One independent study demonstrated
that Thomlison’s partnerships with national and grassroots
organizations
were delivering a 10 to 1 return on investment, and a Harvard Business
School Press book devoted a full chapter to his work. Thanks to their
contacts and experience, Thomlison and Breithaupt have acquired such
prestigious clients as Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice
cream. Cohen sold his part of the company for $40 million, Thomlison
says, and set up a fund to invest in socially responsible startups.
“Ben and I and some other social venturers are setting up some
of those companies now,” says Thomlison. “In Norristown in
an old argyle sock factory we have a laundry detergent company, Sun
& Earth Detergents. Everyone employed at the factory can walk to the
facility. My company will market the soaps to hotels, and we have
all sorts of social programs.”
Concurrently, Thomlison is the volunteer chairman of Green Seal, a
self-sustaining nonprofit that aims to get state and local governments
to “buy green.” Green Seal will write the “green”
buildings and operations guides for a major hotel chain and has signed
a deal to work with California procurement offices to “green
up”
state purchases.
He and the Whitehurst four (he fondly dubs them the “Four
Geeks”)
are also working on various nonprofit environmental multimedia
projects.
“Our dream is `capitalism with a conscience,’ says Thomlison.
“We are going after CEOs who have made a public announcement about
their environmental health and safety or community responsibilities.
We are there to help them.”
Princeton Strategic Management, 2 Tree Farm Road,Pennington Point West, Suite A 240, Pennington 08534. Bryan Thomlison.609-731-2380; fax, 609-737-890Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
