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January 24, 2003 - The Philadelphia Tribune

'...She wins people over': Entrepreneur, activist Renee Amoore receives
2003 Paradigm Award for being an outstanding minority businesswoman

By Monica Lewis

Today marks yet another milestone in the awe-inspiring life of Renee Amoore.

An entrepreneur, political dynamo and social activist for minorities, women, children and the disabled, Amoore has been bestowed with numerous honors and awards and happens to call President George W. Bush and former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge personal friends.

An international traveler, often conducting business from her South Africa office, Amoore manages to find a little "me" time when stateside, choosing to give in to her shopping "addiction" or spending time with her husband of 22 years, Joseph, and 18-year-old daughter, Cherie.

So on her 50th birthday, the woman who has done so much still believes there's much left to do.

"It's a whole new season for me and this is just the beginning," Amoore said. "I can't wait to create something different."

Because of her determination to always stay ahead of the game, Amoore was recently named the recipient of the 2003 Paradigm Award. Annually given to the Philadelphia region's most outstanding businesswoman, the award is issued by the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Amoore will be presented with the award during the 11th Annual Paradigm Award Luncheon on March 13 in the Wanamaker Building's Crystal Tea Room.

Even though she is often touted for her business, personal and civic accomplishments, Amoore is very pleased to receive the Paradigm Award.

"I'm excited about the award," said Amoore, founder and president of The Amoore Group Inc., which includes three divisions - Amoore Health Systems Inc., 521 Management Group Inc. and Ramsey Educational and Development Institute Inc. The companies are dedicated to providing economic development and job training programs for the public.

In a market where minority businesses are rare, Amoore has managed to thrive, said Albert Pascahall, president of the King of Prussia Chamber of Commerce.

"She has been enormously successful and she just perseveres," Pascahall said of Amoore, who received the King of Prussia Chamber of Commerce's Entrepreneurial Excellence Award last year.

"As kind of a homegrown person, we like to boast about people like her," Pascahall said of Amoore, who grew up in Bryn Mawr. "She manages to succeed and still have time for others."

"People have seen what I've done over the years and what I, along my staff, have been able to accomplish," Amoore said. "People see how I am not afraid to take a risk."

Taking risks is how Amoore has risen to where she is today. In 1995, she left a stable job with Growth Horizons to start her own company. From the start, Amoore said, people doubted whether she'd make it.

"People were telling me I couldn't do it and that I needed to stay where I was," said Amoore, who was a partner with Growth Horizons, which concentrates on assisting people with disabilities.

"That was the worst thing you can tell me," she said. "You take risks in life and, if it happens, it happens. I think more of us need to take risks and meet challenges head on."

Amoore is quick to say that her road to success was not a smooth one. Just getting the capital to pay those she brought on to help with her business venture proved to be difficult.

"It was hard to get a credit line, but we had to keep going without it," said Amoore, who, in the beginning, wondered how she'd pay rent for her office. Today, she operates out of offices in Philadelphia, King of Prussia and Cape Town, South Africa. "We had to keep working until we got it right."

Now that she has it right, Amoore works diligently to make things right for those who may not be as fortunate. A registered nurse, Amoore is committed to educating people, especially women, on how to improve their health. In South Africa, while a push to promote AIDS awareness is afoot, Amoore is encouraging women to perform breast self-examinations because cancer is just as rampant in the community as AIDS is, she said.

"We have to learn how to have a better balance and take care of ourselves and network with other women," she said. "Preventive health care is so important for women here and abroad. We tend to have an 'S' on our chests and think we're superwomen. But we're not."

While Amoore may not be a superhero, her colleagues think she's pretty close. Pat Poprik, a Bucks County businesswoman and treasurer of Pennsylvania's Republican Party, has admired Amoore's tenacity and enthusiasm since their first meeting 10 years ago.

"Her outreach, her charisma -- I just respect her so much," Poprik said of Amoore, a budding star within the Republican Party. Appointed assistant secretary to the Republican National Convention in 2000, it was Amoore who conducted the roll call of states during the party's convention held here that year - the first African-American woman in history to do so. She now heads the party's National New Majority Council, which aims to broaden the party's base by attracting women and people of color.

If anyone can do that, Poprik said it is Amoore, who is deputy chair of the state's Republican Party.

"She makes you feel comfortable and she just wins people over," Poprik said, adding that the White House has definitely taken notice of Amoore's abilities in business and politics. "She's just got the kind of drive that I think she could sell snow to an Eskimo."

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