Steve Belkin is an American businessman who founded Trans National Group, which provides travel and other services, especially to affinity groups. He is also a former owner of the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 NHL sea ...

and

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

Biography

Belkin was born in

East Grand Rapids, Michigan East Grand Rapids is a city in Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the United States, U.S. state of Michigan. , the population was 11,371. The city is part of the Grand Rapids metropolitan area, including Grand Rapids, Michigan, Grand Rapids ...

where he attended

East Grand Rapids High School East Grand Rapids High School is a public secondary school located in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. It serves grades 9–12 for the East Grand Rapids Public Schools. Athletics The EGRHS Pioneers compete in the Ottawa-Kent Confer ...

. He is of

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

descent. He graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

in 1969 with a BS degree in

industrial engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

, and later served on the Board of Trustees and was named Cornell Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004. He also finished

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

and earned an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

in 1971. In 1973 launched his first business, marketing discount vacation packages to members of the

American Nurses Association The American Nurses Association (ANA) is a 501(c)(6) professional organization to advance and protect the profession of nursing. It started in 1896 as the Nurses Associated Alumnae and was renamed the American Nurses Association in 1911. It is b ...

and essentially inventing what is now called affinity travel and affinity credit cards. Since then, he has founded 29 other companies, including Trans National Group in 1974. The companies currently affiliated with Trans National Group include Trans National Communications, TNT Vacations, TN Real Estate, TN Marketing, Charlesgate West Management and Belkin Family Lookout Farm in

Natick, Massachusetts Natick ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is near the center of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts, with a population of 37,006 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. west of Boston, Natick is part o ...

. In 2004, he became the largest individual shareholder and principal owner of

Atlanta Spirit, LLC Atlanta Hawks, LLC (formerly known as Atlanta Spirit LLC) was an Atlanta, Georgia-based parent company formerly the holder of the franchise of the Atlanta Hawks, a professional basketball team in the NBA, and the Atlanta Thrashers, a former profes ...

; the group that owned the

and

. Belkin currently serves as a National Commissioner and Honorary Life Member of the ADL, on the Board of Overseers of the

Museum of Fine Arts Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 work ...

, and a Trustee of the Sports Museum of New England. He lives with his wife Joan and two children in

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * W ...

, an affluent

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

suburb.

Recognition

Throughout his career, Belkin has received several awards and recognition for his philanthropic endeavors. * Temple Beth Elohim: Tikkun Olam Award, 2015 * Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps: Embracing the Legacy Award, 2010 * Human Relations Services: Community Service Award, 2009 * ADL: Distinguished Community Service Award, 2003. * Reach Out and Read National Center: Literacy Champion Award, 2002 * New England Assoc. of Healthcare Philanthropy: Distinguished Service Award, 2001 *

Cornell University College of Human Ecology The New York State College of Human Ecology at Cornell University (HumEc) is a Statutory college#Cornell University, statutory college and one of four New York State contract colleges located on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York. T ...

: Alumni Award for Outstanding Volunteerism, 1998

References

External links

NBA.com biography

Steve Belkin is a True EntrepreneurHBS Entrepreneurs Oral History Collection: Interview with Steve Belkin (2001)
Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management alumni Harvard Business School alumni American sports businesspeople NBA executives NBA owners National Hockey League executives National Hockey League owners Living people Jewish American sports executives and administrators People from Weston, Massachusetts 1947 births 21st-century American Jews {{US-business-bio-1940s-stub