February 6, 2007

Jim Coons - Director 

Southwest Auglaize County Chamber of Commerce

Jim Coons, Executive Director of the Southwestern Auglaize County Chamber of Commerce addressed the club about his experiences of holding that office for the past year.  Jim first thanked everyone for their patience as he 'learned the ropes' during the past year as he gained hands-on experience.  He shared that his experiences as members of  the Celina, Wapak, St Marys and SWA Chambers have hopefully enhanced his contributions to this position.

Having never been exposed to what being a Chamber Director entailed prior to taking on the job in January of 2006, Jim shared about some of the issues that have surprised him about the workings of the Chamber.  First, the amount of money handled by the Chamber is about $120,000 in a year's time.  $37K was for gift certificate sales and the balance is for operating expenses.  As memberships come due on the anniversary date of the membership, invoices must be sent for renewals which occurs essentially each month.  He also shared that he was pleasantly surprised at how much he enjoys being part of the Chamber.  The process of learning the job and envisioning the needs as well as getting to know the members and their needs has been a positive experience for him.

On the other hand, Jim shared that the amount of support that has come from the Minster, New Bremen and New Knoxville Communities was not a surprise to him.  He feels that the strength of The Golden Triangle is in the faithfulness of our people to the traditions and principles and character that have guided us for the past 175 years.  He expressed that he is proud to able to work for the communities in this capacity and thanked the assembly for allowing him to serve them, their businesses and families.

Jim is a native of Central NY State in the Syracuse area and attended Ithica College.  He earned a BS in TV and Radio Production and did additional graduate work in Education at the State University of NY.  He enjoyed 35 years in the TV and Radio field and has worked in NY, Arizona and Washington DC.  He has been an Auglaize Country resident since 1976 and worked in advertising specialty sales and video production.  He was owner/operator of Stahr Video Productions in St Marys before joining WCSM in fall of 2000.  He served as morning announcer and oublic service director there until January 2006 when he joined the Chamber.

Hosting Rotarian: Steve Hartwig