[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 11 (Wednesday, February 9, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E105]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                   SALUTE TO JOHN ALEXANDER AND CBORD

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. AMO HOUGHTON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 9, 2000

  Mr. HOUGHTON. Mr. Speaker, as you know, food service is the second 
largest contributor to our Gross National Product. The quality and 
expense of food is important to us all--as individuals and as a 
society.
  I rise today to share news with you and my colleagues of dedicated 
food service professionals in Ithaca, New York, who have married high 
technology to food distribution in a way that enhances the quality and 
quantity of food served, while dramatically reducing waste and 
unnecessary expenses.
  I'm referring, of course, to CBORD, which was founded in 1975 by John 
E. Alexander, then an MBA candidate at Cornell University, and two of 
his associates with a start up investment of $1,000 each. Their dream--
to create a software system that could organize the haphazard menu 
planning process for institutional food service systems, increase the 
nutritional value of every meal served, and rein in runaway food costs.
  Working nights and weekends, this tireless team of entrepreneurs 
built their system, and today the company they launched on a shoestring 
served over 4,000 food service clients world wide, while employing over 
300 people.
  Here is a story that exemplifies the very best in American business. 
We have long admired individuals with a vision and the courage to 
pursue it until they achieve success. Today, CBORD's food service 
control systems are in use by major corporations, colleges and 
universities, health care facilities, nursing homes, and the United 
States Armed Services.
  But there is more to this story.
  In 1983, John Alexander founded the Computer Applications in Food 
Service Education (CAFE) Society, which provides free or reduced cost 
software systems for use in hospitals and dietetic programs and 
promotes innovative educational uses of computer applications to help 
solve the problems of world hunger and chronic food shortages.
  CBORD is actively involved with numerous anti-hunger organizations 
such as HUNGER and FOODCHAIN, provides generous support to the Special 
Olympics, and sponsors a number of charitable and educational programs 
throughout the Ithaca region.
  The social conscience exhibited by CBORD and the leadership that its 
founder, John Alexander, has shown in applying America's advancements 
in technology to one of the world's oldest and most pervasive problems 
is something we can all applaud.
  It is encouraging, as we look to the dawning of the new millennium, 
that there are still opportunities in this great land to follow your 
dreams, build a thriving business from the ground up, and then share 
all that you've learned for the benefit of people everywhere.

                          ____________________