Albert Chen, founder and executive board chairman of Carmel-based telecommunications company Telamon Corp., will receive the 2023 Sachem Award next month, Gov. Eric Holcomb’s office announced Thursday.
The Sachem is Indiana’s highest honor, reserved to recognize one individual each year “whose lifetime of excellence and moral virtue has brought credit and honor to Indiana.”
“Albert came from a humble beginning as a first-generation immigrant from Taiwan, but through grit, perseverance and relentless work ethic, Albert built a $839 million company with more than 2,000 employees,” Holcomb said in a statement Thursday. “He is an innovator and entrepreneur extraordinaire who’s long been guided by the same principles he founded the company on, namely honesty, harmony, simplicity and stewardship.”
Chen will receive the award during a celebratory event at The Tarkington at the Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel on Nov. 2.
Motivation from hardships
Chen, 80, immigrated to the United States in 1968 from Taiwan, where his family struggled with homelessness at times, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
In a 2021 interview with WRTV, Chen said his family spent more than a year without a home, but that it helped “build my character.
He said he turned his hardships into motivation and later received a master’s degree in mathematical sciences from Portland State University in Oregon. He also holds a law degree from the National Cheng-Chi University in Taiwan.
Chen worked for GTE, formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation, in Indiana for 10 years before founding Telamon in 1985.
Since its founding, Telamon has grown to 14 locations in the U.S., three international offices, and more than 2,000 employees. It’s since become one of the largest Asian American businesses in Indiana.
The company designs, builds and installs networks that support telecommunication networks…
Read the full article here