R & J Armstrong Family Business Scholarship

Bob was originally from the southwest Los Angeles, California area. His family relocated to the Midwest after his junior year in high school. He graduated from WSU in 1969 with a degree in Business Administration and minor degrees in Industrial Psychology and Management. After graduation he started his career as a Human Resource representative with a computer manufacturing company. For the next six years, he was promoted to higher H.R. management positions until he became Director of H.R. for a high technology start-up company in the twin-cities area. After ten years of serving as Human Resource officer with high-tech companies, Bob purchased a specialized recruiting company called Accounting Personnel of Minnesota, a professional placement firm for all levels of accountants. During the next ten years, Bob started over four specialized recruiting firms for technical, clerical, temporary and senior management personnel. He sold this group of recruiting firms in 1989.

At the beginning of 1990 Bob co-founded a value priced software company called Wizardworks. The company specialized in publishing software for the emerging home P.C. market place. The software included computer learning applications, games and other tutorials related to the computer and market place. The boxed software was sold in retail outlets such as: Best Buy, Target, Home Depot, etc. During the next six years the company was recognized as one of the top value priced software companies in the United States. The company was sold to a New York City based public company in 1996. Since 1997 Bob has been active as an “angel investor” in over twenty start-up companies that range from high tech, retail, and service based companies. He has served on the board of directors of eight of these companies and Chairman of the Board on two. Bob has been very fortunate to meet a number of very innovative, creative and hard working individuals during this period of time. He believes these individuals represent the true backbone of successful emerging small businesses today.

Scholarship contact is Robert.