Corporate Citizenship - (co-honoree)

Manpower, Inc.
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Phil Blair is one of San Diego’s most visible and respected business leaders. During the last 30 years, he along with partner Mel Katz, have built Manpower Staffing of San Diego into the largest Manpower franchise in the U.S., with annual revenues that exceed $100 million. Manpower is San Diego’s fourth largest local for profit employer providing approximately 4,000 jobs daily through its six countywide branches.

Blair’s success is marked by not only talent and business acumen but also by an innate desire to contribute to the fabric of the entire community. This accessibility is evident in his relationships with employees, clients, charities, business and professional organizations, local/regional government and citizens groups.

Blair is an oft-quoted employment industry expert and appears frequently in local business publications and on television and radio. He has also created two career resource guides, Strategies for Success and Getting Back on Track.

Blair is the chair elect of the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce. He sits on the Board of the San Diego Red Cross Board, the SDSU College of Business Advisory Board, the Lincoln Club of San Diego County, LEAD San Diego, and the Holiday Bowl and is chair elect of the United Way of San Diego and is a Downtown Rotary Member. Professionally, he is past chair of the Manpower Franchise Owner’s Association and the Vice Chair of Manpower Insurance Company, was on the ConVis board and Executive committee and past board member of the Council on Literacy Advisory Committee and Angels Foster care Advisory Committee. Blair, a patron of the arts, is a past chair and now sits on the board of the NTC Foundation for Arts and Culture, and was instrumental in bringing back the San Diego Symphony from bankruptcy. Blair formerly served on the San Diego City Council to represent the 5th district and served four years as Commissioner to the Fair Political Practice Commission in Sacramento.

Blair is a 1971 graduate of Oklahoma State University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. He and his wife Catherine reside in Del Mar. Their grown sons live in San Diego and Chicago.