[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 43 (Thursday, March 17, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING MS. LINDA PARKS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 17, 2016

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Linda 
Parks, whom I have named Woman of the Year in Napa County, California. 
For more than four decades, Ms. Parks has worked to build Napa-based 
Lixit Animal Care Products into the major manufacturer and employer it 
is today.
  Currently serving as President and CEO of the company, Ms. Parks 
joined Lixit in 1971 as a buyer, three years after the company's 
founding. At the time, it employed only ten people. In 1994, Ms. Parks 
and other employees purchased the company using an Employee Stock 
Ownership Plan, allowing employee stakeholders to participate in 
business's future and success.
  Under Ms. Parks's leadership, Lixit maintains international markets 
in Canada and Mexico, and employs more than 100 people in its downtown 
Napa, California location. Lixit employs many people with developmental 
disabilities, helping them participate in the workforce and gain 
independence through the company's Adults with Disabilities program.
  Ms. Parks has earned a distinguished reputation in the California 
business community. In 2015, the North Bay Business Journal named her 
one of the Women in Business award winners of the year. A graduate of 
the Building a Minority Business program at the Tuck School of 
Business, Ms. Parks has led Lixit to become a certified women-owned 
company.
  Mr. Speaker, we thank Linda Parks for her dedication to building a 
successful business and diverse workforce that enlivens the Napa County 
business community. For this reason, it is fitting and proper that we 
honor her here today.

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