The University of Houston will rename its sales program in honor of Mattress Firm CEO Stephen Stagner.
The Stephen Stagner Sales Excellence Institute was announced during the program's recent graduation ceremony.
“We are uniquely fortunate to have someone who believes that the best investment is the investment in students — an investment in human capital,” Bauer College of Business Dean Latha Ramchand said. “Steve believes in what we do, he speaks in our classes, he recruits our students to work for him. In other words he walks the talk."
Stagner opened his first store in 1996 with $1,300 in his bank account. By 2004, he had developed a network of more than four dozen franchises with $62 million in annual sales. Stagner merged his company with Mattress Firm the following year, and has added 2,000 additional locations to the company's portfolio during his tenure as CEO.
"Sales was my passion and my life," said Stagner, who recently gave a large financial gift to the school. "If I was going to give an investment, I wanted to give it here because it was going to a great place and help people for a long time. I want to help the students be prepared for what’s going to happen in real life because sales touches almost every profession. I would like to put the profession of sales on a world platform to where it is perceived and honored as a profession."
The institute has graduated more than 2,220 sales professionals since its founding in 1996.
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