Eight U.S. presidents have come from Ohio, including William McKinley, whose presidential library and museum is the focus of this month’s Uniquely.
McKinley’s legacy will forever be preserved because of the unique position he held as one of only 44 presidents in the country’s history. He and the other seven Ohio presidents may be the most well-known leaders, but they’re certainly not the only ones the state, and our region, have produced.
Wave of leadership
This month, we have an exclusive Q&A with Ray Hexamer, the new head of the Massillon Development Foundation. A hometown guy, Hexamer talks about the appeal of taking the job, and what he hopes to accomplish during his time with the organization.
We’ve got a new columnist running this month, Ken Babby, owner and CEO of the Akron RubberDucks. He uses his first column to write about improving the customer experience. Under his leadership, the District of Columbia import has lowered the ticket and concession prices to RubberDucks home games while increasing promotions. Those efforts have helped the organization reap a 27.7 percent increase in ticket sales, and a nod for the Larry MacPhail Award, which goes to the team with the most outstanding and creative marketing and promotional efforts. We spoke to him about taking over the owner’s box for Akron’s minor league team, which you can read in our August 2014 edition.
Babby is among the new leaders Daniel C. Colantone, president and CEO of the Greater Akron Chamber, notes as being a part of the wave of leadership coming to the area. He writes, “It’s a healthy thing and a sign of our regional maturity that so many changes in leadership can occur and be taken in stride, without disruption.” Also noted among those leaders is last month’s cover subject, Beverly Warren, the newly appointed president of Kent State University.
Change agents
Christine Amer Mayer, president of GAR Foundation and the feature of this month’s Building Stronger Communities, casts a different light in this influx of leadership. She says she anticipates some growing pains as a leadership change takes place through the coming years. She adds, “I believe this time of transition can unlock a huge opportunity for Akron, through which we can get honest about our challenges, embrace them, and harness the energy and creativity of an emerging set of community leaders to tackle them head-on.”
Entrepreneurs are also important change agents in our region. Deborah D. Hoover, another of our columnists, and president and CEO of the Burton D. Morgan Foundation, writes, “Entrepreneurs are change agents whether they are building a business or catalyzing social transformation.” She goes on to say, “For entrepreneurs who are devoted to a geographic region, this social capital can be amplified to build powerful ecosystems that support whole communities.”
Ohio earned the nickname, Mother of Presidents because it’s among the top president-producing states. Leadership and entrepreneurship, however, seem to also be in great supply in our region, and that may lead to the economic transformation many have hoped for.
