Buck Honored As Top Entrepreneur

"I think the name `Entrepreneur of the Year' is a misnomer," Buck said. "It's really a recognition of our entire team. It certainly raises the awareness of the company, which is good for the company and employees, and it's good for Warsaw."

Buck is a 1984 graduate of Purdue University, with a degree in industrial and mechanical engineering. After serving in operational management capacities with ITT and North American Philips, he founded the Paragon Group Inc. in 1991.

"I wanted to achieve more independence, and market research showed me that there was a call for this type of company," Buck said of Paragon's beginnings. "We cross 11 surgical disciplines, but we learned initially through the orthopedic industry in Warsaw. We developed a total instrumentation delivery system for the surgical field."

Buck added that his firm essentially produces, "sophisticated tackle boxes for surgeons."

Buck evidently had the right idea with Paragon because the firm has experienced a compounded annual growth rate of 48 percent.

"Good people and good clients, as well as a robust national economy, have allowed us to grow at a phenomenal rate," Buck said.

That growth rate places Paragon on a pace to reach its goal of being a $100 million company by 2003. It is currently expanding operations at its Pierceton facility, with a 15,000 square-foot instrument manufacturing complex scheduled to come on-line in early 1999.

Buck and his wife, Donna, live in Warsaw with their four children. He is involved with Kosciusko County Big Brothers Big Sisters, on the council of Redeemer Lutheran Church and is president of the local chapter of Tippe River Basin Pheasants Forever, a habitat preservation and restoration organization similar to Ducks Unlimited. He is also a Free and Accepted Mason.