Editorial
Front Page - Friday, August 21, 2009
John Germ carries on tradition of philanthropy, hard work
Samara Litvack
By Samara Litvack
“My father always said that if I could learn a trade, then I could make a living and I could support a family,” says John Germ, CEO of Campbell & Associates, Inc.
His father, with only an 8th grade Austrian education, moved to America at a young age to build a life for himself. He met and married Germ’s mother, a Cleveland, Tenn., native, and after Germ’s birth, the two became determined to see that their son made a good life for himself.
Germ took drafting classes, three hours a day, to learn his “trade” at Kirkman High School. From there, he went to the University of Tennessee, where he worked his way through the engineering program. During that time, he met and married his wife, Judy, and the couple had their first child.
Upon graduation, Germ tried his hand in the military. After survival training at Stead Air Force Base in Nevada, he was stationed in Dover, Del., as part of a logistics-type transport squadron.
“We transported troops, tanks, paratroopers, food, supplies, etc.,” he says. “We hadn’t been there long until we were sent to McDill Air Force Base in Florida.”
There, Germ took part in missions during the Bay of Pigs and Vietnam. The biggest thrill of that time, he says, was hauling the Gemini IV spacecraft from St. Louis to Cape Canaveral, before it departed on the historic launch that resulted in the first American space walk.
But despite the excitement of his missions, Germ decided not to make a career out of the Air Force.
“First of all, we were flying old planes; some of them were actually falling apart, crashing,” he says. “We had one crash in Dover, Del., that killed several people because it had a crack in the wing spar. We had one that threw a propeller, (one) that I was on. We actually landed in the water. When I got back to the base, there was seaweed dripping off the bottom of our airplane.”
At that point, the Air Force was downsizing its officer base, offering early leave. Germ and his wife were raising a family, and they decided he should take the opportunity to get out and begin a career in engineering.
He didn’t have any experience in the field, but he had confidence. He interviewed at several firms upon his discharge, including one in Chattanooga called Campbell & Jones.
Germ flew to Tennessee for an interview with the firm, and then he flew home to await response. Upon his arrival, he received a collect call from George Campbell, part owner of Campbell & Jones. Campbell had interviewed some of Germ’s UT professors and liked what he’d heard. He was concerned, however, that Germ had forgotten how to do the actual heating and cooling work. Campbell sent Germ a sample problem in the mail, along with the forms and books he needed to work it.
“I sent it back and then, shortly thereafter, he called, but this time it was on his money,” Germ says, a smile stretching across his face. “He called and said that they’d like to talk to me the next time I came to town and thought there would be a position for me.”
At that time, Campbell and partner Art Jones were registered engineers, and there weren’t any other graduate engineers employed by the firm. Germ accepted the position as such, but felt obligated to share some personal insight with his new bosses.
“I said, ‘You know, I think I’m going to like this, but I need to tell you that in 10 years, I’ll either own part of this company or I’ll be your biggest competitor,’” says Germ. That confidence and determination paid off, and when Jones left the company in 1968, Germ bought a hundred shares of stock.
“I held no office or anything, and then shortly after, I became secretary,” he says. “I always knew that when George got ready to sell out that I’d buy that stock, and so that’s what I did.”
Germ continued to move up in the company and now serves as chief executive officer and chairman of the board of Campbell & Associates. While much has changed since the early days, one thing has remained very much the same.
Campbell and Jones had always encouraged Germ to give back to the community through philanthropic efforts. Campbell had been greatly involved with the Rotary Club; Jones with the Kiwanis. And while they never swayed him in a particular direction, they led by example and soon, Germ followed.
He became active with the Chattanooga Jaycees in February of 1966, less than a year after he took the position with Campbell & Jones. He had a hand in two main projects with the organization – the construction of the two Jaycee Towers and the creation of Blood Assurance.
“When we did the Jaycee Towers, no one else had a program for the retired people on this limited income,” he says.
“When we started Blood Assurance, there wasn’t an all-volunteer blood bank here, and so we’ve seen that grow ... to where we’re supplying over 100,000 units of blood now.”
As a member of the Jaycees, Germ eventually rolled onto the board of the Orange Grove Center and the Chamber of Commerce. And from there, his community involvement has
continued to multiply into an interweaving list of achievements.
“I’m blessed. I’ve got a lovely wife. We’ve been married for 50 years. We have four wonderful children,” he says. “But I see other families, except for the grace of God go I, so to speak.”
The common thread in Germ’s service to the community has been simple – he aims to make a difference in human lives, on a local, national and worldwide basis.
Currently, Germ is working to raise $96 million for the Rotary Foundation and another $200 million to match the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to eradicate polio. He has traveled the world, participating in National Immunization Days, administering polio vaccines to children of India and Nigeria.
“In 1985, when we started, there was over a thousand cases a day of polio in the world,” he says. “Last year, we were at a little over 1,500 in the world. So we made quite a bit of progress. It hasn’t been eradicated yet. We will get there.”
Despite the task ahead of him, Germ’s confidence doesn’t waiver. Perhaps it’s because his determination has never failed him. He’s accomplished everything he’s set out to do, from raising four children with his wife, to taking over Campbell & Jones, to making a difference in the lives of those less fortunate. And as Germ prepares to start selling his own shares of stock by cultivating leaders of tomorrow within his corporation, he also passes down the tradition of hard work and community service that were instilled in him.
“I firmly believe that everybody has a debt to pay to society,” he says, “and that is using your God-given talents to improve the community in which you live.”
|
|