2004

The 2004 Laureates: Stephen M. Case, former chair and CEO of America Online; Marie C. Johns, former president and CEO of Verizon-Washington, DC; John M. Derrick Jr., retired chair of Pepco; P. Wesley Foster Jr., chair and CEO of Long & Foster; and Robert P. Pincus, longtime DC banker and chair of Milestone Merchant Partners.

NBC 4 news anchor, Jim Vance, the event emcee, introduces keynote speaker, Nick Simons of Fairfax High School. Simons was selected as the Junior Achievement Youth Entrepreneur of the Year.

Former Redskin Darrell Green delivered the invocation. He also shared his insights about bringing baseball back to DC and childhood stories to inspire kids to follow their dreams despite the challenges that lie in their way.

2004 Washington Business Hall of Fame Chair C.E. Andrews, EVP Accounting and Risk Management for Sallie Mae, presents Junior Achievement with a check for $1.1 million on behalf of the Greater Washington Business Community. This was the largest total ever raised in the 17 year history of the event.

CNN Anchor Wolf Blitzer poses at the pre-event laureate reception with Edward J. Grenier III, president and CEO of Junior Achievement and Edward Cohen, principal, Lerner Enterprises who is slated to chair the event in 2006. Blitzer delivered remarks at the reception as well as at the beginning of the event program.

13 year-old Kyle Ahn, also known as "Vocalz," mesmerized the crowd with his rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner." He paused during the song to say, "God I love this country."

The 2004 Washington Business Hall of Fame laureates are accompanied by their student escorts from Anita J. Turner Elementary school in Washington, DC as they are introduced to the crowd for the first time.