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In 1980 Mr. and Mrs. Edwards founded Austin Diversified Products, Inc. (ADP) to manufacture market and sell their proprietary Advanage Multipurpose Cleaner. Today, forty plus years later, well over 40 million customers have purchased Advanage.
To sell their product, ADP recruits young men and women from the inner cities of America and gives them an opportunity to build a career and earn a good living. Along with basic sales training, ADP helps them prepare for a productive life by instilling in them the disciplines needed to cope with life and its uncertainties.
It is the Edwards’ decades of work helping young people become contributing citizens that prompted them to establish the Advanage Foundation in 2013.
Proclamations – In Ohio, by Congressman Stokes, Sunday, April 15, 1979 was designated as “Nathan T. Edwards Day” in the Ohio 21st Congressional District for hiring and training young people nationwide. Proclamation: Nathan T. Edwards Day in Topeka, Kansas. Presented by the Governor of Kansas in 1991 for hiring and training inner-city youth; presented to Nathan T. Edwards.
Awards –Chicago Area Leadership and Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame 2000; Chicago Area Manufacturer’s Award, 2001; Black Male Leadership and Role Model, Orange County, CA, 1992; Small Business End-of-Year Management Award by the Chicago Chamber of Commerce, 1975.
Memberships – One of the Founding Fathers of the NFSA (National Field Selling Association), Philadelphia, PA in 1986; Past President of the NFSA 1997 to 1999; Member of the University of Chicago Family Business Council, 2004 to 2009; Los Angeles and Chicago Better Business Bureaus; Member of the NAACP (South Cook County, IL and Orange County, CA).
Located in South Holland, IL, We help young women and men from the underprivileged neighborhoods of our nation’s inner cities find jobs, make money, and have fun. Help us give these kids a break. They deserve it.