On December 5th at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, Lew Coppersmith was honored as the Foreign Trade Association’s Person of the Year for 2019. This was a special honor because it came at the celebration of the centenary of the FTA. For 100 years the FTA has been in existence in Los Angeles and the luncheon was a celebration of the group’s history and future.
My grandmother Adrienne began the company in 1948 – we celebrated our 70th anniversary last year – and she was only the seventh woman in the United States to receive her custom broker’s license at the time. In 1961, Lew became President and the company became known as L.E. Coppersmith.
Over time, the company has grown and Lew remained president until Jeff was elected President in 2000. Despite having retired from the position as President nearly twenty years ago, Lew has remained active and engaged.
To receive the honor in front of his peers in the Los Angeles community was tremendous, but it was even better because joining him at the table were not only some of our longest tenured managers, but also my brothers Jeff and Chris. We’re especially proud of the next generation coming up – my nephew Michael in Atlanta and now my daughter Cristina are the fourth generation of Coppersmiths ready to take on the challenges of a new decade.
We were able to capture the awards ceremony and his speech on video and hope that you enjoy hearing Lew’s story and speech as much as we have had the pleasure of knowing and working with him.
Header picture courtesy of Norman Harris III.
