|
|
Photo by Dan DuChene
|
After an 11-year-run as president of the Ypsilanti Chamber of Commerce, Keith Peters will be retiring at the end of May.
Purchase a copy of this photo
|
|
Retiring after 11 years as president of the Ypsilanti Area Chamber of Commerce, Keith Peters says golf and yard work won't keep him entertained.
"It's a matter of being able to spend time with my wife," he said.
Peters, 65, has been a resident of Ypsilanti Township for 41 years. He is to retire from his position and leave the chamber May 31 after 13 years of service.
It was a 22-year-old Peters who moved to Ypsilanti after graduating from the Great Lakes Christian College in Lansing in 1964. Peters worked as the senior minister of the First Christian Church in Ypsilanti and stayed with the church until 1983, after helping the church grow more than triple in size.
It was during this time that Peters met his wife, Betty, while serving as the assistant manager of a Christian Camp in Berkley. The couple now has two children, Jeffery and Susan, who both married with four children.
"I promised my wife there would be a time to see if retirement life would work," Peters said.
Peters has been balancing his time between family, work and volunteering since first coming to Michigan. He started work in the private sector after leaving his post at the church in 1983 and started working for the chamber in 1995.
Aside from his work, Peters sits on more than seven different committees on the area and has held various positions in those committees. Recently, the state recognized Peters for his service as chairman of the Washtenaw County Workforce Development Board. The committee is one of the best three work-force development boards in the state. He said other communities in the state now will be looking at the Ypsilanti area to observe how Peters' board functions.
Peters has been so involved and busy that he refused to let a little thing like dying try to slow him down.
Soon after beginning work with the chamber, Peters suffered a massive heart attack while at work. He said he felt it come on while making his way to take a break.
"It felt like indigestion," Peters said.
When a concerned co-worker saw Peters' color, he was driven to the hospital. Peters said he flat-lined after 20 minutes in the hospital. He had open-heart surgery after hospital staff revived him.
Now Peters says he eats healthier, and hasn't had any incidents.
"I have my health now," Peters said. "I work very hard at that."
Under Peters' leadership, the chamber has doubled its membership and budget. The group has worked with school districts and businesses to create several programs and funding opportunities for the community. The chamber's involvement has attracted several businesses to the area creating thousands of jobs.
Peters said one of his biggest accomplishments was helping to create a new attitude about Ypsilanti. He also said it is still one of his biggest challenges.
"You can't really put a value on that," Peters said. "Getting people to work together was extremely important. We've made some very big strides in the last couple of years."
He said, "The people of Ypsilanti became proud of their community. I can remember the day when that wasn't so pronounced."
The restored partnership between Ypsilanti and EMU is something Peters said he feels good about but he said more municipal, school district cooperation and regionalization would benefit the area.
"I think they're going to be forced to do so," Peters said. "We've got to start thinking that way."
Peters said he started considering retirement on his birthday last August. He said he has been working 14 hour days for several years, and he wants to get his life under control.
"I'm going to see how well I can learn to relax," Peters said. "My wife and I love to travel."
He said he will test the waters of retirement this summer, and re-evaluate his situation in the fall. He said he might look for a job, but he wants to call his own hours in a new position.
"I can still benefit the community," Peters said. "If I'm offered something that will help me do accomplish that I'll do it."
He said, "I know I'm not just going to sit at home."
TOP JOBS
