Students graduating next weekend will hear a speech from a Mississippi State graduate whose name appears on guitars and amps played by Ted Nugent, Robert Randolph and Eddie Van Halen, among others.
Hartley Peavey, founder and sole owner of Peavey Electronics, a Meridian-based company, will speak at the graduation ceremony held May 8 and will receive an honorary doctorate degree in Creative and Performing Arts.
Peavey will speak on international business, the difficulties that exist today in business and the challenges of tomorrow’s industry.
“There’s so much to know that you just cannot learn in school,” Peavey said. “To run a business of any kind you have to know so many laws and rules that are not taught in any school. If you do not know these laws and rules you will find yourself in a number of difficult situations.”
Peavey said college is important because, by the time a student graduates, he or she is conditioned to learn about the business world.
“College teaches you whether you have stickability, which is the ability to stick with something,” Peavey said. “Stickability is important whatever you do.”
Many people do not do well in business because they do not have the ability to work hard and make sacrifices, Peavey said.
Peavey was able to find success in his business, Peavey Electronics. It started as a small one-shop business in Meridian and has been around for almost 40 years, Peavey said.
“I started the business in 1965 when I graduated,” Peavey said. “It’s very scary to start from the ground up. I remember when I opened that door and walked outside and reality struck and I realized that was it.”
Peavey Electronics now has over 30 manufacturing and distribution centers in Alabama, Mississippi and England, Peavey said.
“We realized that by shipping speaker cabinets overseas, we were paying to ship air, so we decided to build the speakers here and the speaker cabinets over there for distribution to that area of the world,” Peavey said.
Business is no longer a local or even national thing, Peavey said.
“People here in America have no idea what they are competing with. You have to go international now to do well,” Peavey said.
“Almost anybody can do well in business if they work at it,” he said. “They say that everything has a price. Many people are not willing to pay the price to be successful in business.”
President Charles Lee said he feels Peavey is an inspirational person who has found great success.
“A faculty committee recommended that Peavey be the recipient of an honorary degree for his marketing skills and entrepreneurship,” Lee said. “It just made sense to have him speak to our graduates.”
“I think people will get a real education about what’s happening and how to do well in a global economy,” Lee added.
The process of awarding an honorary degree is managed by academic affairs. A committee reviews nominations and makes recommendations to Lee, said Joe Farris, director of university relations.
To receive an honorary degree, one must make major accomplishments in his or her area. Some of the honorary degrees awarded include doctorates in creative and performing arts, science, business and engineering, Farris said.
“This is the first time the honorary degree recipient and the graduation speaker are the same person,” Farris said. “Neither of these positions is required to be the other.”