AccuWeather celebrated 55 years of innovation and contributions to the advancement of commercial meteorology and forecasting at its global headquarters in State College, Pennsylvania, Thursday night.
AccuWeather Founder, President and Chairman, Dr. Joel N. Myers, attributed AccuWeather’s success and longevity to the company’s dedication to accuracy combined with innovation and entrepreneurial corporate culture.
After developing an early fascination with the weather as a child growing up in Philadelphia, Myers started AccuWeather while a graduate student at Penn State University in 1962.
“From right here in State College, Pennsylvania, AccuWeather has established itself as the best known and most respected global weather brand, a household name that reaches nearly 2 billion people. We’ve become the largest source of weather forecast and warnings in the world.”
Myers estimates that AccuWeather has helped save thousands of lives throughout the company’s 55-year history.
“Our fanatical commitment to Superior Accuracy allows us to carry out our mission of saving lives, minimizing bodily harm and helping people get more from their day as well as help thousands of companies and government agencies plan better, minimize losses, operate more efficiently and keep their employees safe,” said Myers.
Over 300 guests were in attendance to celebrate the milestone anniversary including National Weather Service Director Dr. Louis Uccellini.
Uccellini credited Myers, along with his brothers AccuWeather CEO Barry Myers and AccuWeather Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Evan Myers, for redefining a fledgling industry and becoming a major force in creating the private weather industry of today by creating AccuWeather.
They made AccuWeather a fundamental component of the public, private, academic and research weather enterprise, an enterprise that has grown rapidly over the past 30 years, Uccellini explained.
“AccuWeather has created numerous jobs and has shown other entrepreneurs the value of a private sector in our meteorological universe,” Uccellini said.
“I personally want to congratulate Joel, Barry and Evan for realizing your vision over the past 55 years,” he said.
Prior to reaching his initial goal of 100 paying customers, Myers called 25,000 prospective clients in an effort to get the company off the ground.
Today, AccuWeather is available to nearly 2 billion people through mobile, wired and non-wired devices. AccuWeather forecasts are also available in 700 newspapers, 900 radio stations and 200 television stations.
“People thought I was crazy. I persevered though and never gave up,” Myers said. “That same motivation, drive and entrepreneurial spirit exists throughout our organization today. And the talented, hardworking and amazing people who have dedicated their professional lives to AccuWeather’s success and the result has been a great and positive force for good in the United States and around the globe."
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