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Learned Jeremiah Hand: Industry Entrepreneur
Learned Jeremiah Hand, president and chief executive officer of Wellstone Filters Inc. (symbol WLSF) since May 2001, has proven industry excellence in his successful reverse merger between Wellstone Filters LLC and Fallaron Inc., after which Learned Jeremiah Hand moved the firm to Timberlake, N.C., 20 miles north of Durham. Learned Jeremiah Hand says, “We’re a growth company in a declining industry. We’re filling a need in a market niche that has been neglected, which is a very good cigarette at a value price.”
Learned Jeremiah Hand says Wellstone's products combine premium tobacco with proprietary filters that remove some toxins in cigarette smoke while improving the cigarette's flavor. “People will buy it for the price and come back for the taste,” Learned Jeremiah Hand says.
Also, in addition to the special filter, the company uses 100 percent tobacco, with no fillers. Learned Jeremiah Hand says he felt obligated to bring Wellstone's improved cigarettes to the market despite the tobacco industry's tumult.
Learned Jeremiah Hand says, “If I'm in possession of a technology that will inherently improve the cigarette, I feel duty-bound to deploy it.”
Learned Jeremiah Hand considered marketing Wellstone's cigarettes as a less-hazardous product, but regulations imposed by the 1998 settlement between 46 state governments and cigarette manufacturers prohibit Wellstone from marketing its cigarettes as “safer smokes.”
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