1-1 SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 739 1-2 WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas takes pride in 1-3 recognizing Sam and Irene Kogutt, who are retiring after 34 years 1-4 of ownership of Dart Manufacturing Company in Dallas; and 1-5 WHEREAS, Dart Manufacturing Company celebrated 34 years 1-6 of business on April 20, 1999, and on April 27, a celebration 1-7 is planned for the retirement of the company's founders, 1-8 Sam and Irene Kogutt; and 1-9 WHEREAS, Sam and Irene Kogutt established Dart 1-10 Manufacturing Company for the purpose of making vinyl items for 1-11 Texas Instruments; while at its original location, the company 1-12 patented and manufactured over one million vinyl clutch purses 1-13 for women and sold them directly to banks across the country; and 1-14 WHEREAS, The company also printed one of the first five 1-15 credit cards used in department stores; in 1980, the company moved 1-16 to 4012 Bronze Way, and during that decade, business expanded 1-17 remarkably; in 1992, the company grew to include the adjacent 1-18 building and brought the total size to 60,000 square feet; and 1-19 WHEREAS, Now producing many different kinds of fabric, 1-20 leather, and vinyl business accessories, sporting goods, and plastic 1-21 cards, the company was fortunate to have Irene Kogutt involve the 1-22 business in a Total Quality Management program in 1993, and in 1996, 1-23 the company qualified for the Texas Quality Award; and 1-24 WHEREAS, The recipient of seven supplier recognition awards 2-1 for customer service, Dart Manufacturing Company also earned seven 2-2 achievement awards for product excellence from the Promotional 2-3 Products Industry; and 2-4 WHEREAS, Because of the team-based atmosphere and the 2-5 caring of these two exceptional people, the business now has 245 2-6 employees, and annual gross product sales are over $13 million; 2-7 more than 40 of the employees have been a part of the company 2-8 family for 10 or more years; now, therefore, be it 2-9 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 2-10 76th Legislature, hereby congratulate Sam and Irene Kogutt on 2-11 their retirement and for establishing such a successful business; 2-12 and, be it further 2-13 RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for 2-14 Mr. and Mrs. Kogutt as an expression of high esteem from the 2-15 Texas Senate. 2-16 West 2-17 ______________________________________ 2-18 President of the Senate 2-19 I hereby certify that the above 2-20 Resolution was adopted by the Senate 2-21 on April 26, 1999. 2-22 ______________________________________ 2-23 Secretary of the Senate 2-24 ______________________________________ 2-25 Member, Texas Senate