Harvey Samuel Firestone (December 20, 1868 – February 7, 1938) was the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires and an important contributor to North American economic growth during the 20th century.

Firestone was born in his family's farm house on December 20, 1868, in the small town of Columbiana, Ohio, the second of three children, to Benjamin Firestone, a farmer, and A. Catherine Flickinger. The Firestone ancestors were German immigrants named Feuerstein. After graduating from Columbiana High School, Firestone worked for the Columbus Buggy Company in Columbus, Ohio before starting his own company in 1890, making rubber tires for carriages. In 1895 he married Idabelle Smith, a composer and songwriter. They had six children: Harvey S. Firestone, Jr., Russell Allen Firestone, Leonard Firestone, Raymond Firestone, Roger Stanley Firestone, and Elizabeth Firestone. In 1904 Firestone joined Henry Ford to make rubber tires for the newly popular automobiles. The Ford-Firestone corporate marriage was later cemented when Henry's grandson William Clay Ford wed Martha Firestone, granddaughter of Harvey, who then became parents of current Ford Motor Company Chairman, William Clay Ford, Jr. The farmhouse where Firestone was born is now located in Greenfield Village (Dearborn, MI), a 90-acre (360,000 m2) historical site founded by Henry Ford. Firestone was concerned both with the manufacture of tires and with securing supplies of rubber from trees: At one point, the company had a rubber plantation in Liberia that covered more than 4,000 square kilometers (1 million acres). During World War II the company was called on by the U.S. Government to make artillery shells, aluminum kegs for food transport and other rubberized military products.

Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (NYSE: DKS) is an authentic full-line sporting goods retailer offering a broad assortment of brand name sporting goods equipment, apparel, and footwear in a specialty store environment. Headquartered in Findlay Township near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Dick's has 409 stores in 40 states as of August 1 2009, primarily in the eastern half of the United States. The Company also owns Golf Galaxy, Inc., a multi-channel golf specialty retailer, with 91 stores in 31 states.

At the age of 18, Richard Stack had worked at an Army/Navy store in his hometown of Binghamton, New York, after World War II. Military surplus stores were common start-ups in those days. "Dick" had the idea of expanding the product line to include more than just military surplus, but to also sell fishing and camping supplies- for which there was also developing a big demand. He presented his idea to his boss, the owner, but the idea was denigrated by him. He related his disappointment to his family later that night. After hearing his story, his grandmother decided to give him her savings of $300 and instructed him to "follow his dreams" with it. He rented a store-front and opened up the first Dick's as a small "bait & tackle" fishing supply store, on Court Street near Howard Avenue. His store was also called by the then-popular "Army/Navy".