Richmond has appointed Ken Grenda at its new No. 1 male ticket-holder.
Ken Grenda, founder of Grenda Corporation, is a passionate, life-long Tiger supporter.
The accolade has been given to Grenda following the passing of Richmond’s long-time No. 1 male ticket-holder, David Mandie, in 2011.
Mandie’s legacy lives on at Tigerland with his daughter, Evelyn Danos, the Club’s No. 1 female ticket-holder, since 2012.
Full article here: http://www.richmondfc.com.au/news/2013-04-03/tigers-announce-no-1-ticket-holdersMore about Ken here in an article in the Australian early last year:
The man with the golden handshake Kate Legge
The Australian
March 10, 2012 SILVER-haired Ken Grenda is being crushed by a love-in of burly bus drivers and mechanics, Aussie blokes with tattoos and buzz cuts and svelte Asian men, some of them misty-eyed, their phones held high over the throng to photograph this legend of a boss who teeters on the verge of crying himself.
They've feasted on a farewell dinner of roast turkey and beef in the cavernous Dandenong bus depot, and now they swamp the 79-year-old head of the Grenda Corporation with bear hugs and the fruits of their hidden talents. One employee with a hefty beer
gut has painted a fine portrait that captures his boss's twinkling eyes and gentle face creased into a smile. Another has baked a cake that's perfectly iced in wedding white and decorated with the company's red logo. There's even a handwritten poetic tribute to this rock star of a leader who won headlines worldwide when he sold his family business and splashed $15 million of the proceeds into the pockets of around 1750 employees.
He hadn't dreamed of creating a fuss. There was no announcement or press release - it would never have occurred to Grenda to milk such a gesture for personal glory. A worker blew the whistle after discovering that the mysterious bounce in his account was not a bank error but a thank-you from the boss. Paid on a sliding scale according to years of service, some staff were staggered to receive as much as $30,000 plus a superannuation bonus.
News of his largesse was deemed so unusual in the thick of company closures, redundancies and economic belt-tightening that it was picked up by the BBC, CNN, and newspapers in 61 nations. Grenda received emails of praise from people in Sweden, Tanzania, Belgium, Singapore, Mexico, Indonesia, Switzerland, Greece, Austria, the UK, the Czech Republic, Peru, Holland and Germany.
Grenda mechanic Neven Jelaca was contacted by his brothers in Croatia, who told him: "Six hundred people lost their lives this winter in Europe's freeze but the big news was Ken Grenda's bonus."
Indian-born driver Vernon Franklin got his mug on TV footage that ran overseas. "I got phone calls from Portugal, Canada, India, Malaysia and London telling me that I was a celebrity and I replied, 'Yes I am a celebrity bus driver working for the great Ken Grenda.'?"
Long before the news went viral, staff had lionised this man for the smaller, quieter courtesies he'd bestowed on them: for the handshakes, the "good mornings" as he came to work through the drivers' entrance instead of the corporate foyer, for his interest in their welfare, their personal stories. Grenda has always held his employees in high regard as "decent people trying to make a bob and look after their families".
The idea you are only as good as the people who toil by your side attracts lip service in many fancy corporate mission statements, but financial rewards rarely trickle down below the executive floor. There have been rare exceptions: billionaire mining boss Clive Palmer handed out $10 million worth of gifts to 800 staff at his Townsville nickel refinery in 2010; Melbourne businessman Roger Riordan dispensed half of the $US30 million raised from the 1999 sale of his anti-viral software business to 90 staff, and most of what was left bankrolls a foundation that has sponsored 200 students. But city lawyers and bankers who handled the Grenda company sale swear they've never encountered anyone quite like Ken Grenda inside Australia's boardrooms.
Read more:
http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/the-man-with-the-golden-handshake/story-e6frfkp9-1226292128380#ixzz2PNaump00
