As an entrepreneur I can give you every peak and valley that comes with owning your own business. We’ve been extremely successful, and we’ve been less than successful. A couple of times!

In retrospect we made mistakes back in 1981 that I can see now. Back in 1981 when you could borrow money at 21% interest we were still adding on. The bank told us: “you are so profitable we are happy to loan you money!”

Back then no one told me that you shouldn’t do that. We had done a third edition and opened the running store. It took us two years and years to get caught up and I don’t think we ever truly did get caught up.

With the Rocking U restaurant and Urbanski catering there were supposed to be a lot of synergies, and there were.

But the way it turned out was that if I had the off-premise catering at the restaurant, the restaurant was profitable. If I had the catering at Urbanski catering, the catering business was profitable.

So I made the decision in 1999 that I needed to divest myself of one business or the other. I wanted to cut back on my hours and I thought it would be a wise move financially.

During the nineteen nineties there was a huge influx of restaurants coming into the community. So, naturally, I thought that catering would be the way to go.

It grew all the way until 2001.

Then, 9/11 hit. It was amazing how people and corporations really cut back on their entertaining.

That was the beginning of things getting difficult.

When I got to 2005 high looked around and thought: “I’m a 51 years old. What’s going to happen when I’m 61?”

Assuming that I survived financially I’d be doing the same thing: loading heavy trays, and working 60 hours a week.

So we were able to sell the restaurant and get out of the foodservice business altogether. The 2006 was a very interesting year for us.

When I first shut down the business Jackie and I considered moving down to the Carolinas. That’s where our daughter lives. I thought I could get into corporate food service where I wouldn’t be running a restaurant.

But my parents are 88 and 84, and I am the only sibling who lives in the area. So Jackie and I sat back and reconsidered our decision.

My uncle was on the board of directors for the Hancock County Agency on Aging. They needed a new executive director and my uncle told me: “John, you would be a perfect fit for this job!”

I don’t typically two my horn a whole lot but 60 people applied for that position. There were people with doctoral degrees in social work and sociology. Other people had master’s degrees. I have a degree in psychology but that was 30 years ago.

I do have three decades of business experience. That plus eight years of Jesuit education and the gift of the Golden Shovel helped me get the job.

What also helped is that I have been very deeply involved in the community throughout my adult life. The selection committee recognized that and they recognize that what the senior center needed was a manager. They needed a person who now works well within the community. That’s one of my greatest attributes.

Back in 1987 I received the “Small Business Hall of Fame Award.” I was the first one to receive that award. I’ve also been actively involved with my church, community leadership programs, the chamber of commerce and on and on.