© 2006 - The Charles H. Tweed International Foundation

Chairman of the Board Report 2006Jack Dale“Performance drives us as an organization.We deliver performance that endures.” John DeereSome time ago, I sent our Executive Director, Jim Vaden, a book entitled, “The John Deere Way” because Iknew that his passion, other than orthodontics, is collecting and restoring John Deere tractors.Within a few weeks, Jim returned the book to me and he said, “You have to read this book.” I was not too faralong when it occurred to me why he said that. You would think that you were reading about The Tweed Foundation,and I realized that that was the reason Jim, instinctively, or by design, was interested in John Deere. The company, asdoes The Tweed Foundation, represents excellence and the highest possible standard of “performance”.John Deere is the world’s largest producer and seller of farm and industrial tractors and equipment. It has beenin business for 169 years, since John Deere, blacksmith, invented the first commercially successful self-scouring steelplow in 1837.Today its prosperity continues with 46,000 employeesin 160 countries and with $20 billion in annual sales. Thisremarkable growth began when John Deere said,“I will not put my name on a product that does nothave in it the best that is in me.”The company has enjoyed phenomenal successbecause the driving force behind this dynamic organizationis a set of rules and principles instilled, at its inception,by John Deere himself: commitment, integrity, innovationand quality. These qualities come together to create,“The John Deere Way”.One could say, with the same determination and sincerity,that commitment, integrity, innovation and quality have created“The Tweed Philosophy”.Up on Jimmy’s handiwork.The Tweed Foundation’s insistence on the highest possible standard of care in orthodontics has enabled it toprogress from Dr. Tweed’s commencement of practice in 1928 to the present day … 78 years.Two sterling examples of commitment in the Foundation are the records of our Course Directors since Dr.Tweed’s death in 1970, Levern Merrifield and Herb Klontz. Levern Merrifield did not miss a course or a meeting inthe 47 years that he was involved, and Herb Klontz has not missed a course or a meeting since he became CourseCoordinator in 1976, and then Course Director in 1983 … to mention only two of our many dedicated members.As a result of this commitment, integrity, innovation and strict adherence to quality, The Tweed Foundationconcepts and protocol of diagnosis and treatment, working in harmony with The Tweed-Merrifield EdgewiseMechanotherapy, which is the most precise instrument for the routine correction of major malocclusion that existsin the world today, have influenced millions of patients in more than 75 countries and in every state in America.John Deere’s commitment to innovation: “Innovation means inventing, designing and developing productsand services that customers want to buy from John Deere … constantly striving to delight customers withproducts and services that help them realize their own aspirations.”To say it the Tweed way: “Innovation means inventing, designing and developing The Tweed-MerrifieldEdgewise Mechanotherapy and service that are highly beneficial to orthodontic patients … constantly striving todelight patients with treatment and service that help them realize their aspirations.”4