Jake Sanchez

July 30, 2001
Commencement Speech
Kennesaw State University

Speaker: Jake Sanchez
Founder & Former Chairman and CEO, Planning Technologies Inc.

Sanchez lecture

Jake Sanchez biography

Arturo "Jake" Sanchez, today’s commencement speaker, is founder and former chairman and CEO of Planning Technologies, Inc. One of the nation’s premier providers of internetworking consulting and engineering services, Plan-ning Technologies, Inc., grew under Mr. Sanchez’s leadership to include more than 200 employees serving a worldwide client base of Fortune 100 companies and U.S. government agencies. He negotiated a successful sale of the business to Red Hat, Inc., a leading open source company.

A graduate of Marshall University, Mr. Sanchez has been recognized as one of the nation’s top entrepreneurs. Planning Technolo-gies, Inc., won distinction as the Atlanta Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Hispanic Business of the Year, the Small Business Administration Minority Supplier/Distributor of the Year, and the Fastest-Growing Hispanic Firm in the United States. Mr. Sanchez has been recognized as a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and as a member of Hispanic Magazine’s "High Tech 50."

Mr. Sanchez’s success in business is matched by an exemplary commitment to public service. He has served on the boards of the American Red Cross, the Mexican-American Cultural Chamber of Georgia, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Charter Bank of Marietta, the Mexican Cultural Center, and the Kids Way Foundation.

As a member of the Kennesaw State University Foundation Board of Trustees, Mr. Sanchez has had a profound impact on many of KSU’s most far-reaching projects, especially the new Center for Hispanic Studies. The first of its kind in Georgia, this center will foster the study, teaching, and dissemination of Spanish language and culture. With his support of the Center for Hispanic Studies, Mr. Sanchez continues his lifelong commitment to the advancement of the Hispanic community.

Mr. Sanchez also has dedicated his entrepreneurial spirit and business expertise to KSU in developing plans for new parking decks and student housing facilities. Unlike other residential campuses in Georgia, KSU’s student housing facilities will be constructed, owned, and operated by private firms, to the benefit of the students and the institution. As a member of the Executive Committee of the Foundation, Mr. Sanchez was appointed chair of a special committee to oversee the privatization and implementation of this effort.

Having recently retired in order to work in public service, travel, and spend more time with his family, Mr. Sanchez lives in Duluth with his wife, Susan. They have two sons, Morgan, 6, and Hyatt, 4.

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