(Originally appeared in the July 1, 2004 edition of the Century City News)
Jim Lynch is still burning the midnight oil. Beverly Hills oil, that is. July 12th marked Lynch’s official switch from Century City Chamber of Commerce Executive Director and CEO to heading up the chamber in Beverly Hills. Some things never change, despite geography.
“At least I’m not doing a midnight council meeting tonight. It’s good because I could use the sleep,” says an ambitious, yet calm and collected Lynch from his new Beverly Hills office, fresh from a three-day string of late-night city council meetings and 7 a.m. mornings.
“I’ve just got a lot of stuff to take care of. I jumped right in from day one,” continues the Pasadena native, who is now working with the Los Angeles City Council on the Montage Hotel Project, a plan to replace some older buildings and a parking lot in Beverly Hills’ Golden Triangle with a five-star luxury hotel complete with retail, public gardens, and water treatments.
As Lynch gets straight to work a few miles away, the impression he leaves on the people and the businesses in Century City remains indelible.
July 16th would have celebrated Marianne Klein’s fifth year working with Lynch at the Century City Chamber. “We’re a three-member office here, so I’ve always worked very closely with Jim as the Director of Membership,” says Klein, who has accumulated much respect for Lynch, as both a professional and a friend. “He’s a walking dictionary and encyclopedia about the city, the population, development, and political issues.”
Many agree that Lynch’s knack for public service has been specifically instrumental in making The Century City Chamber what it is today.
“I think he made the chamber a better place, a more amicable place,” continues Klein, “He made people feel welcome to the chamber as opposed to before he came. He was always so hospitable that it gave the chamber a better image. I hear from others that ours is the best chamber in the vicinity--that it has never been run like this.”
Stefan Pollack, current chair of the Century City Chamber’s Board of Directors and Vice President and CFO of The Pollack PR Marketing Group, was on the search committee that hired Lynch. “In a nutshell,” says Pollack, “I have worked with Jim in just about every capacity.”
Pollack’s meticulous remembrance of Lynch’s Century City achievements provides a good breakdown of Lynch’s impact on the community:
“During Jim's tenure with our chamber we had a lot of exciting things happen,” Pollack begins. “We saw our Golf Tournament grow to become our single biggest networking event and fundraiser in our history. We reformatted and repurposed our Annual Luncheon and Citizen of the Year event, enabling it to grow and become one of the City's ‘must attend’ events. Jim also possesses a wonderful personal nature about him that allowed our chamber to become a warmer and friendlier environment. Additionally, he brought greater civic and government visibility to our chamber on key issues that involved our entire community, such as…the recent hospital change over, as well as the many non-profit and charity activities that our chamber and Century City as a whole, rallies behind.”
But which of his Century City contributions makes Lynch, himself, most proud?
“Something I’m really happy about that we were able to do during my time in Century City was build the MGM Tower and get unanimous approval from the Los Angeles City Council to develop the new 2000 Avenue of the Stars Project,” Lynch says modestly. “Those are two big achievements that I’m very pleased about.”
Lynch has also left his mark on several projects that are still ongoing in Century City today. He worked to devise the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan for all of Century City—a safety measure taken to ensure readiness in the event of a natural disaster or terrorist attack. Due to the concentrated nature of the office towers and their occupants, a plan like this will continuously evolve. Additionally, the enduring Santa Monica Blvd. construction project is the largest street improvement project in the history of Los Angeles, and Lynch helped to coordinate it everyday by inspecting the site to ensure that people could get to and from work safely.
The breaking-in process typical with a new CEO will be much smoother in Beverly Hills this summer thanks to Lynch’s experience in Century City. “The same issues that face businesses in Century City are a lot of the same issues that face businesses in Beverly Hills,” says Michael Robinson, Director of Communications at the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce. “So even from a big picture perspective, it’s going to be a much smoother transition, I’m sure.”
Lynch’s move to Beverly Hills does not mean a complete shift away from Century City, however. Key to Lynch’s continued involvement in Century City is his leadership of the Entertainment Industry Council, which he began during his time in Century City. The collaborative effort involves five chambers, including the Beverly Hills, Century City, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and the Los Angeles Area Chambers of Commerce. “Lynch may no longer have authority as to the Century City Chamber’s organization,” adds Klein, “but when it comes to The Entertainment Industry Council, he will still be able to make decisions that may ultimately affect us in this chamber.”
While Lynch’s ties to Century City should remain strong, the chamber will undergo a definite adjustment period. “Right now, we’re in mourning,” says Klein, “It depends on who takes over his leadership. He will be difficult to replace.”
While there are several applicants eager to fill Lynch’s shoes, no decisions have been made just yet. The Century City Chamber hopes to locate someone by August 1st.
Pollack is confident that Lynch’s legacy in Century City will nurture the chamber’s new leader. “Jim leaving our chamber obviously leaves us with a great void to fill,” says Pollack, “but we are excited about our future, as Jim brought our chamber to a wonderful platform that any new person coming into the position will have to grow from.”
In late July, the Los Angeles City Council will honor Lynch for his years of service to the Los Angeles area. From his venerated and evolving position, where does Lynch see Century City going?
Lynch replies, simply, “I think Century City has a great nucleus of people and a lot of dedicated volunteers that put together some wonderful programs, and I think they’ll do just fine.”
