Regional Summit addresses quality of life

DAVE MOSIER/independent editor

CELINA – Approximately 150 area community leaders gathered last Friday at Wright State University’s Lake Campus for the second annual Regional Summit.

This year’s featured speaker was Jeff Monfort, president of Fort Inc. and an owner-operator of McDonald’s restaurants in Wapakoneta, St. Marys, Celina and Coldwater, as well as president of the 75 restaurants that make up the Miami Valley/Dayton Co-op.

He first noted that he felt he was “talking to the choir” when talking to summit participants. “We all sing the same song and the song is building better communities,” Montfort said.

The theme for the morning event was “Past, Present and Future: Improving the Quality of Life in West Central Ohio,” and Monfort talked about the reasons he decided to return to his Mercer County roots after 14½ years in Montana.

He also spoke about hinges, and their importance in life, noting that “little hinges swing big doors.” During his speech, he cited three hinges that lead to prosperity. Those “hinges” include “I stories,” “innovation and investment” and “giving back.”

Montfort first talked about “I stories” — stories of why people make the choices they do and their impact.

Noting that, in 1981, he was told there was no future in Ohio so he moved with his family to Montana, which is also known as “God’s Country”.

“As beautiful as Big Sky Country is … we chose to move back to ‘God’s county’,” Monfort said of his return to Mercer County, adding that, while Montana was a great place to live, this area has all the resources needed for quality of life.

He also addressed the feeling of some of his young employees — nearly half are under the age of 20 — that it’s impossible to be successful locally.

“I started at 16 behind the counter and now I own the counter,” he told those at the Regional Summit.

He also told participants in the summit to be “proud out loud” — tell their stories to others who may not realize that success is possible locally.

Montfort also talked about the importance of innovation and investment for companies and organizations, using as an example, the Eastman Kodak Company, which controlled 70 percent of the photographic market in 1998, but recently filed for bankruptcy because it “failed to keep pace with the shift from film to digital.”

Finally, Montfort spoke about giving back, something he said McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc also felt was important.

“Ray Kroc, our founder, always said it’s our social responsibility to give back to the communities where we do business,” the McDonald’s franchisee noted. “If it was true then, it’s even more true today.”

Montfort said businesses have to work even harder than in the past to maintain “brand trust” with customers, noting that scandals in business and society’s institutions have created a “low trust world.”

He also said it was important to make sure important decisions were local in nature. “I think it’s okay to think globally, I think it’s okay to think regionally, but we need to always act locally,” Montfort said.

The summit also included three presentations: “Connecting with Community,” presented by former Van Wert economic development director Nancy Bowen and Julie Miller, Western Ohio Educational Foundation development officer; “Connecting with Technology,” presented by Celina Schools Superintendent Matt Miller, Celina High School Principal Jason Luebke, Betsy Crites, technology integration coach for Celina City Schools and the Lake Campus; and “Connecting with Culture,” presented by St. Marys Community Public Library Director Susan Pittman.

The presentations were followed by roundtable discussions among those attending and closing remarks by Wright State University President David R. Hopkins.