John
was an under-performing high school student. But, he excelled academically in college (making the Deans List) and was
very popular with the other students. He was voted President of his Freshman, Sophomore and Junior Classes. He
received the Who's Who in America award and was recognized as one of the Outstanding Young Men In America by the National
Jaycees. He sold Bibles door to door in the south and was the top salesman and sales recruiter for four consecutive
summers. But, as John says, "that is ancient history".
Today John is a "social entrepreneur". He believes capitalism
works best when communities, towns and cites have programs, laws, training and culture that support, unify, nurture, empower
and reward individuals who use positive human and divine values to build strong families in the communities where they reside.
John is a retired minister from a mainline, protestant denomination. He served
12 churches before retiring. His first church, after graduating from Campbellsville University was in Raywick, KY.
He lived in Lebanon and he conducted his first funeral for Boseley Funeral Home. As a college graduate in 1975 he was
paid $2,500 a year salary and all the fried chicken, corn and vegetables he could eat that was grown on the Scotts farm in
Marion County. He played tennis at St Marys, had Sunday dinner at the Scotts and returned to the Scott farm on Monday
each week to fill the gas tank of his 1973 Duster from the gas pump Mr Scott used for his farming implements.
In 1980 John received his Master of Divinity degree from the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
Most of the churches he served were located in Louisville, Kentucky. One of his last churches was in the Highlands in
Louisville, KY. John loves people and admires and draws strength from small business owners. John says,
"they have more guts, fight and get up and go than any group of people I have every known. When small business
people make up their minds to do something, they are unstoppable".
John entered business ( on
the side) as a young minister in order to help pay for his wife to attend the University of Louisville medical school.
She became a doctor and practices medicine in Brandenburg. They parted ways as friends after 18 years of marriage and
2 wonderful daughters. They now have 10 grandchildren. John was married to his second wife for 22 years.
She died from cancer three years ago.
John started his business career publishing art, then
added public speaking seminars and workshops for Fortune 500 companies like General Electric, AT&T, KY Farm Bureau, KY
Lottery and many others. He developed the largest weight loss company in KY with 10,000 clients and produced the #1
diet supplement in KY. (Most of John's weight loss clients were referred to him by physicians.)
After
he retired from business John worked for Kroger in the frozen food section earning $6.35 an hour. He loved it but it
was too confining for him. After a year and a half he decided to start a new hobby... publishing Hikes Point News.
The mission of the magazine was to promote the Hikes Point community. This was later expanded to promote the communities
and towns in the 11 County Economic Development Area surrounding Louisville on both sides of the Ohio River.
Now John is encouraging people all across Kentucky to become "Community Partners". John says, "every
action taken in a community does not have to be formal or official". "I encourage small business owners, groups
and individuals to band together and tackle the issues and concerns of their area. Citizens do not always need the help
of local, state or the federal government to fix their problems. Local people are better equipped to know how to solve
the challenges in their community. When local people see themselves as "Community Partners", they realize
they can get more things done partnering together with one another. The Community Partners Program builds stronger social
entrepreneurs or people who are willing to take risks for their community."
