My Friend, Phil Maynard

On February 1st, I lost my good friend Phil Maynard and the community lost a leader, advocate and champion. Just over three years ago, I had the opportunity to interview Phil for the Leadership on Main program for Leadership Akron. I wrote about that experience previously. I thought it was worth sharing again (see below).

There has been much written and shared about the impact Phil had on the greater Akron community and many of its members. A link to an article from the Akron Beacon Journal is included below. 

Click HERE for Article

Phil was genuine, authentic and generous. I am thankful for the time that I had to spend with him. I learned many lessons that will serve me for the rest of my life. He was a strong and disciplined person, a five-year cancer survivor, and I had hoped to share many more years together with him. A couple of months from now when it is time for our next breakfast together, I am sure the enormity of his loss will hit me again.

I know that I am just one of dozens, if not hundreds, of stories of someone whose life was touched and changed by Phil. I thank you, and the greater Akron community thanks you as well. God bless and rest in peace my friend.

My Friend, Phil Maynard

As I have shared in the past, Leadership Akron provides a program on the second Wednesday of each month called Leadership on Main. This monthly forum is graciously hosted by Ken Babby, owner of the Akron Rubber Ducks baseball team, at the Rubber Duck Club. Each month, a graduate of Leadership Akron's Signature Program gets the opportunity to interview a community leader about life, work, lessons learned and their impact on the community.  I have attended many of these sessions, and I have learned many valuable lessons through the years. 

January's session was very special for me, as I was able to interview community and business leader, philanthropist and my good friend, Phil Maynard. Phil and I got a chance to talk through these issues as we prepared for the January session a couple of times.  Phil and I generally meet two to three times a year for breakfast or lunch to catch-up on life, work and family.  It's always great to have the opportunity to share time with somebody who has had such success in life.  

Phil is the chairman and CEO of ASW Properties.  He is also the chairman of the Maynard Family Foundation.  Phil is a graduate of Archbishop Hoban High School and an Akron native.  He attended Kent State University and then served in the Army for four years in the far East during the Vietnam conflict before returning and graduating from the University of Akron.  He began his career as a dock worker at Akron Storage and Warehouse Company. He progressed his way to warehouse supervisor, warehouse manager, general manager, and then assistant to the president.  In 1981, he went in to purchase Snyder Distribution Centers and later changed the name to Akron Storage and Warehouse, commonly known today as ASW. 

Phil has had an amazing impact on the community and has blessed many people he has come in contact with.  He has served on many nonprofit boards and committees, and he has received many community awards. He will be receiving yet another significant award in March when the Greater Akron Chamber awards him with the H. Peter Burg Economic Development Leadership Award. 

Phil and I talked about the quote in the original Spiderman movie, "with great power comes great responsibility", the Bible also states "to whom much is given, much will be required". With that in mind, Phil has had to use his finite time and financial resources to pick and choose where he had served the community so that he could do it in a way that maximized benefit. 

Having served with Phil on the board of Heart to Heart Communications, and on the endowment board of Open M Ministries, I can attest to the fact that Phil walks the talk of leadership. He is aware of the importance of being honest with one's self, making a difference in the community, and I have been blessed to learn many great lessons from this leader and I have been blessed to count him as a friend. The Akron area is better positioned for the future in part because of the leadership of Phil Maynard.