Bill Melver’s original given name is Norio Nabeshima. Born in Manchuria of an American born mother and Japanese father, young Norio arrived in America in 1953. Having lost her husband in the war, his mother married an American soldier, Sgt. Robert Melver and young Norio was adopted and baptized with a Christian name, William. Bill grew up in Texas, received his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Texas – El Paso, and spent 27 years with the General Electric Company before establishing his management consulting business, Nabeshima International.
The Nabeshima name dates back to the 13 th century samurai family that flourished on the island of Kyushu, Japan’s southern most island. The Nabeshima clan is most famous for documenting “the Way of the Samurai” in the book “Hagakure”.
Bill credits his management style and personal as well as his business principles to a unique blend of the training he received at GE with those ancient traditions steeped in his Japanese bloodline. His formal engineering education completes the third critical skill set of enabling him to tackle complex issues and problems with innovative, process driven solutions.
Among his business accomplishments are – built the Japan Nuclear Services business which is now a $100 MM annual business, grew the Little Tikes distribution in SE Asia from $3 MM in 1995 to over $20 MM in 1998, developed a strategic recovery plan for National Engineering from brink of bankruptcy to a profitable business and co-founded the Akron Life & Leisure magazine in 2002.
More recently, Bill decided to focus on challenges with more philanthropic content. He took over as moderator of the Self Development of People, became a SCORE counselor and have taken on a greater leadership role with the West Akron Kiwanis club. Bill truly believes giving back to the community will yield dividends, far more valuable than money. He believes City of Akron has all the fundamental elements to provide the quality of life that’s best in America for its size. Among all else, Bill treasures his family the most. He and his extended family all reside in West Akron.
