[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 107 (Thursday, June 26, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1374]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      IN TRIBUTE TO J.D. POWER III

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELTON GALLEGLY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 26, 2008

  Mr. GALLEGLY of California. Madam Speaker, I rise in tribute to J.D. 
``Dave'' Power III, who is retiring from the day-to-day operations of 
the company he founded 40 years ago, a company that revolutionized 
market research.
  Dave Power's plunge into entrepreneurship was sparked by 
dissatisfaction with the way businesses then conducted market research. 
Armed with an MBA from Pennsylvania University's Wharton School of 
Business, Power went to work with big-name automotive and advertising 
agencies as a financial analyst and market researcher. Over the years, 
he became disillusioned with the quality of work he was asked to 
provide, likening it to ``torturing the data until it confessed'' 
instead of delving into customers' real opinions.
  In 1968, Dave Power launched his company with his wife, Julie, in a 
rented apartment in Los Angeles. It began to take off when Power talked 
himself into an impromptu meeting with a visiting Japanese executive. 
That meeting led to a collaboration with Toyota that continues unabated 
today. Using research focused on how potential customers perceived 
Toyota, Power and Toyota built a business model that changed that 
perception for Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A.
  As Toyota began hiring internal marketers, Power began conducting 
smaller, independent and self-funded studies on individual products. By 
that time, Dave, Julie and their family were operating out of their 
family home in Calabasas, California. Julie's role was to tabulate data 
from the surveys. One survey had gone out to owners of Mazda's new 
Wankel rotary engine. Those owner surveys showed a problem with the 
engine's O-ring, which was causing the engines to self-destruct after 
30,000 miles. Julie showed the findings to Dave, Dave shared it with 
the 14 auto manufacturers who subscribed to his surveys, and one 
subscriber leaked it to the Wall Street Journal.
  J.D. Power was on his way to becoming a household name, and Mazda 
joined the growing legions of industries as a subscriber. Today, nearly 
every major global manufacturer is a J.D. Power and Associates client 
and the company provides research, analysis and consulting for a wide 
range of global industries with offices throughout the world.
  Madam Speaker, J.D. Power and Associates has made the ``voice of the 
customer'' a force to be listened to within industries around the 
world, providing benefits for consumers and businesses alike. While 
Dave has stepped away from the day-to-day operations of the firm, he 
will continue to be the face of J.D. Power and Associates. I know my 
colleagues will join me in wishing Dave and Julie well in their semi-
retirement and thank Dave for building better relationships between 
customers and companies, resulting in positive results for both.

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