Paul Orfalea
Paul Orfalea (Arabic: بول أورفاليا), nicknamed "Kinko" because of his curly red hair, born in Los Angeles, California to parents of Lebanese decent, founded the copy-chain Kinko's. He is currently a philanthropist and a visiting professor in the Global and International Studies Department of the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.
He was commemorated with a plaque by the community of Isla Vista, which is next to the UCSB campus, where the original Kinko's copy shop was founded.
Paul Orfalea founded Kinko's in 1970 near the University of California at Santa Barbara with a simple idea: provide college students with products and services they need at a competitive price. The space that Orfalea rented for his copy business was so small that the copy machine had to be lugged out onto the sidewalk. From its modest beginnings, Kinko's is now the world's leading business services chain. Today, there are over 1,500 Kinko's worldwide.
Orfalea also hired salespeople to sell notebooks and other stationery at the dorms of UCSB.
In 2005, Orfalea coauthored the book Copy This! Lessons from a hyperactive dyslexic who turned a bright idea into one of America’s best companies.
Orfalea is a 1969 initiate of the Gamma Eta Chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha at the University of Southern California.
He founded the Orfalea Foundation which among other things sponsors NOW (TV series) with David Brancaccio.
He also founded the Orfalea College of Business, the business school within California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo Campus.
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