Haller Scholarship > Entrepreneur of the Year Award Recipients > Harvey Childs

Joseph A. George
2011 Entrepreneur of the Year

Joseph A. George, CEO, Joy Cone Company, Hermitage, PA

In 1918, Albert George founded the George & Thomas Cone Company with second-hand cone-baking machines. Today, that company, now known as the Joy Cone Company, is run by Joseph George, who has transitioned the more than 90-year-old company successfully into a modern, profitable, employee-owned company.

George, better known as “Joe,” graduated from Sharon High School in 1954 and later earned an A.B. degree from Harvard College. In 1964, he returned to his hometown to revive the company his family started. In 1964, Joy Cone’s sales were $25,000. In 2011, sales are projected to reach $90 million. The company now sells more than 1.5 billion cones per year, including gluten-free ice cream cones. The company treats its employees as members of the family, allowing for greater work-life balance, which has resulted in greater efficiency and happier employees. Joy Cone operates its own fleet of trucks, insuring dependable handling and delivery of product. Attention to detail in a fast-paced automated world has made Joy Cone a success under George’s leadership.

George is a “local boy” to the core and maintains an active presence in his community. He is or has been a member of the Shenango Valley Chamber of Commerce, the United Way of Mercer County, Penn Northwest Development Corp., F.H. Buhl Club and the Thiel College Board of Trustees, among many others. He has received numerous awards, including the Louis & Barbara Thiel Distinguished Service Award from Thiel, the Boss of the Year Award from the American Business Women’s Association and the Shenango Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Phoenix Award, among others.

George is a member of Notre Dame Parish in Hermitage, Pa., and lives in Sharon, Pa. He and his wife, Ruthanne, who is Joy Cone’s legal counsel, have six children and nine grandchildren.