Walking around the Cynthiana, Kentucky, manufacturing plant of E.D. Bullard Company, the firm's chairman, Jed Bullard, is in his element. "This is Sandy, she's been here a hundred years," he jokes with a woman affixing decals to hard hats. "I want you to meet Kenny, he runs the place," he says of a man at a welding station. "How's your daughter?" he calls to Jane as she takes a break from her sewing machine.

Bullard knows most of the names of the 375 people employed by E.D. Bullard, the privately-held safety equipment company founded by his great-grandfather in San Francisco in 1898. His grandfather invented the first hard hat -- crafted from canvas and glue -- and his father ran the company until his death in 1971.

During Jed Bullard's 25-year tenure at E.D. Bullard, the company has grown to $50 million in annual sales; moved its headquarters from California to Kentucky; built a new state-of-the-art plant; and diversified its product line to include thermal imaging devices, firefighter and rescue helmets, and air quality equipment. At the same time, it has streamlined production capabilities so that the hard hat that five years ago would have taken six weeks to make now comes off the production line in just three days.

While the unassuming Bullard, who recently stepped down from his duties as president, is reluctant to take credit for the company's progress, he is happy to brag about its working conditions. Unlike most factories, there are no time clocks in the well-lit, airy plant; all employees are on salary and receive excellent benefits. Training programs -- for both new and current employees -- are extensive, and employee suggestions, with responses, are posted prominently on the production floor. "I'm a firm believer that people should enjoy their work," says Bullard, who has clearly earned both the respect and the affection of his employees.

The manufacturing plant in Cynthiana is a world away from Marin County, California -- "unreal USA," as Bullard describes it -- where he grew up, but he has known since he was 12 that he wanted to work for the family business. After graduating from UC-Berkeley and HBS and a short stint at Price Waterhouse, Bullard cut his teeth as an E.D. Bullard sales manager in Detroit, "trying to sell products during a horrible recession," he recalls with a grimace. Eventually, however, he and his wife, Sherri, moved back home to San Francisco, where he became CFO in 1981 and president in 1983. The calling to be near the company's operations -- which had moved to Kentucky in the 1970s -- then proved irresistible. In 1989, Jed, Sherri, and their two children moved to Lexington, Kentucky. Within two years, E.D. Bullard had closed its last offices in California.

Bullard has "done the chairs" at various professional organizations, he has served on the School's Alumni Association Board, and his "Greetings from the Bluegrass" opening to his Bulletin Class Notes column is legendary. Having long dedicated himself to bringing his family's business into the 21st century, he is now pondering his next move. "I want to make a difference," he says earnestly. No matter what path he chooses, it seems certain that Jed Bullard's compassion for others will direct his course.

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