2022 Distinguished Citizen Award Honoree: Tyrone Burroughs
Trailblazer, Innovator, Visionary, Philanthropist
In 1987, Tyrone Burroughs founded the global consumer products management firm First Choice Sales & Marketing Company with a vision to create an innovative sales and marketing approach for the personal care industry. As President & CEO, he continues to provide strategic solutions delivering growth to some of the world's largest consumer packaged goods manufacturers, retailers, and distributors.
As a driving force behind the $1.7 trillion of buying power multi-cultural personal care category, First Choice Sales & Marketing has received numerous industry awards and recognitions for developing unique programs that connect their clients to a target market. Through Burroughs' leadership, First Choice creates profitable and growth-oriented sales, marketing, and proprietary merchandising solutions. Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, the company is home to over 100 employees and professional contributors.
Burroughs also serves as chairman of First Choice Global Inc. (parent to First Choice Sales & Marketing Group) and other holdings that include First Choice Opportunity Fund, South City LP.; Beau Ventures, LLC; MG Capital Holdings Inc.; 115 Union Avenue, LLC.; The Burroughs Foundation Inc.; The Pocket Bistro; and R.S. Lewis & Sons Funeral Home (the funeral home that prepared the remains for public viewing of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.).
Often lauded for his ability to create business opportunities, Burroughs has been described as a catalyst for breakthrough results and accelerating progress while fostering positive business relationships. In 2019, he launched Burroughs Restaurant Group Inc., which now owns the U.S. Mid-South franchise rights of Guthrie's Chicken Restaurants.
As a business advisor, Burroughs serves as a member of the Benedict College Board of Trustees, Board of Directors at Guaranty Bank and Trust Company, Chairman of The Burroughs Foundation Inc., Chairman of the Trustee Board for the historic Metropolitan Baptist Church, Memphis NAACP Branch Board of Directors, and Global Beauty Alliance Board. He also serves as a board member for the St. Jude Memphis African American Engagement Council, WKNO Board of Trustees, Faith- Based & Community Initiative Foundation, Tennessee Lottery Commission, Greater Memphis Chamber - Chairman's Circle, Memphis Theological Seminary, and Board Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank - Memphis Branch. Also, notably, he was the 2021 Inductee in The Society of Entrepreneurs.
Past board memberships include Ronald McDonald Charity House, Regional One Health Hospital Board of Directors, Memphis, and the Shelby County Convention Center Board.
Burroughs holds an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Benedict College in Columbia, SC. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Political Science and added graduate studies from the University of South Carolina.
In 2017 in recognition of Mr. Burroughs's philanthropic achievements in the education of America's youth, Benedict College School of Business & Economics was renamed to the Tyrone Adam Burroughs School of Business and Entrepreneurship.