Too often people suffer a letdown after the excitement of the Christmas holidays. January is a cold, dreary month, but there is a program to look forward to: the Martin Luther King Commemoration at the Fine Arts Center, 7 p.m. on Dr. Kings birthday, January 15, 2010.

The program will be full of good music and a speaker: Scott Young, Senior Vice President, Retail Sales of Coca Cola North America. Scott has lived an exciting life and career including travel abroad. He was born in Boston, MA and raised in the Sharon, MA, a historic New England town. At the time Sharon was a predominantly white, Jewish community and Scott quickly assimilated into a radically different social environment. The experience of this racially and religiously diverse community had a significant influence in shaping his ability to be comfortable with all people and to adapt to change in his personal and business career throughout his life.

After graduating with honors from Morehouse College and receiving an MBA from Northwestern University, Scott began a career with Monsanto Chemical Company in 1986 as a sales representative. He was promoted to a National Executive in 1995. He was recruited by Churchs Fried Chicken as a National Account Executive where he again exhibited competence and enthusiasm in his duties. AFC Enterprises was the parent company of both Churchs Chicken and Coca Cola and in 1997 he was promoted to Group Sales Manager. While remaining as Group Sales Manager for Churchs Chicken. He continued his success with both companies, and in 1999 he became Director, National Chain Accounts for Coca Cola.

Scott relocated to Dallas, TX where he became Region Vice President, managing food sales of $800 million across 16 states in the Midwest representing one-third of Coca Colas total U.S. business. He provided the strategic and visionary sales leadership to exceed the 2004 and 2005 sales volume, making his the top performing region in the country.

Scott was anxious to gain broader general manager experience and exposure outside food service and embraced the opportunity to transition to retail sales as Senior Vice President in what is today his current position with Coca Cola. He and his family live in Atlanta, Coca Colas corporate headquarters, where he manages the companys retail customers throughout the United States. In 2005 he was named one of Black MBA Magazines top 50 executives in the United States.

He and his wife, Billie Jo, have two children, James age 9 and Jordan age 6.

Friendship Council says it is proud to welcome the dynamic and inspiring Scott Young as its featured speaker at the Martin Luther commemoration.