Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 5, 1992 TAG: 9203050491
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LISA SWIRSKY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Sigmund Davidson of Davidson's, a men's clothing store, and Arthur Taubman, owner of Advance Auto Parts, will be honored at a reception and awards dinner April 2 at the Roanoke Airport Marriott.
Junior Achievement established the hall of fame in 1990 to honor business leaders for their contributions to private enterprise in Southwest Virginia.
The inductees, called laureates, are nominated by a committee of business leaders. The final selection is made by a smaller panel of past laureates and other business leaders.
Laureates must be retired or no longer occupy the position in which their principal contributions were made.
Both inductees were successful in a family business.
Davidson took over his family's clothing store from his father. When he retired from the business in 1985, Davidson left the management of the business to his sons, Larry and Steve.
Davidson said that he tried to live by a philosophy he learned from his father, a Lithuanian immigrant: "If you take something from a community, it is your obligation to give something back."
Davidson has been an active fund-raiser for organizations such as the American Red Cross and the United Jewish Appeal. He helped conceive the idea for Center in the Square. He has been honored in the past for his fund-raising efforts and has received such awards as the Governor's Award for Volunteering Excellence and the Roanoke Valley United Way's Community Service Award.
Arthur Taubman, a junior-high school dropout, taught himself about business by reading books on his own. He bought Advance Auto Parts in Roanoke in 1932 when it was a three-store chain owned by a Philadelphia company. By 1984, there were 64 Advance stores in four states.
Taubman, now retired, has lived in Boca Raton, Fla., since 1983. His son, Nicholas, has been president of Advance since 1969.
While living in Roanoke, Taubman served as president of the Roanoke Valley Better Business Bureau, chairman of the Elks and Kiwanis clubs and was a member of the boards of Roanoke Memorial Hospitals and the former First National Exchange Bank.
***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on March 12, 1992 in all Neighbors editiona.
\ Correction
Because of incomplete information furnished to the newspaper, a story on the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame in the March 5 editions of Neighbors gave the wrong title for Nicholas Taubman. He is chairman of Advance Auto Parts, which has more than 200 stores; Garnett Smith is president.
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Memo: Correction