Articles about Jim Connelly, Author and Speaker

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OVERCOMING OBSTACLES
Connelly speaks at annual banquet By Mike McKinney - Review Staff Writer
EAST LIVERPOOL - "It's not what happens to you, it's what you do about it that matters," was the theme shared with the audience at Saturday night's Tri-State Promoters annual banquet by guest speaker Jim Connelly.
It was a message Connelly himself has lived his live by. The son of an alcoholic, abusive father in the projects of Turtle Creek, Pa., he began as a paper boy at age 7 and worked his way through a succession of jobs to become the No. 1 performing investment banker for Shearson Lehman.
He also has devoted a large portion of his life to the recover of Donna Jones, a friend for whom he was acting as a mentor before she suffered a severe injury in a snowmobiling accident in 1985.
Connelly's Message applied as well to the Tri-State Promoters, and organization founded 36 years ago by Elizabeth Carter and educators Ruth Kincaid and Ann Johnston. The Promoters are a volunteer organization committed to taking positive action to make a difference in the lives of others less fortunate.
The story of Connelly's life provided an inspiration of anyone who struggles to overcome obstacles placed in their path. He said he decided when he was 7 to make a better life for himself after he spent a cold winter evening delivering papers for a friend. When he went to see his friend and to be paid, the other boy wouldn't let him in his house and told him to come to an outside window. The boy then threw him a nickel from about 10 feet away, which Connelly didn't catch.
"I had made a decision that I was never going to be in a position that somebody was flicking a nickel at me and didn't care whether I got it or not," he said defiantly.
His ambition led him to get his own paper route and to eventually take on more routes that he subcontracted out, selling thousands of papers a day. But life at home and in the projects led to minor scrapes with the law, and Connelly found himself going to the Army instead of going to jail. After he returned home, Connelly went to California and landed a job as a desk clerk at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the lowest rung on the organizational ladder.
"When things aren't going your way," Connelly said, "what do you do about it? I had this enormous need to achieve."
He set out to become the hotel manager, working overtime for free, taking no vacations and learning the business, earning the confidence of management and even, he said proudly, outworking the owner. In six years, Connelly was, indeed, manager of Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
His performance and the contacts he made in business and entertainment brought him to the attention of Shearson Lehman, who hired the then-28 year old as an investment banker and sent him to train at the New York Institute of Finance. Admitting that he was "terrified," the former five-year high school student and the first non-college graduate hired by the firm listened to tapes at night and on the subway and graduated in the class's top 1 percent.
Connelly then returned to Los Angeles and quickly became the company's No. 2 producer nationwide. Not content, he set his sights on No. 1. He eventually achieved this position, along with doing "other things," he told the audience.
These other things included founding a firm called International Leadership which provides training to corporations, beginning another company called Intragated Communications Services with his son, and after meeting Lou Holtz several years ago, even became a trustee of the Lou Holtz/Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame. Connelly lives today on the edge of the University of Notre Dame campus with his wife and daughter.
Connelly "got there," he said with "passion, good luck and hard work."
"It all starts with a vision and a couple of people believing in you and a work ethic and commitment," he said - as well as gaining the respect of those you work for.
But Connelly also moved the audience with the story of Donna Jones, a young corporate salesperson he was mentoring who sustained a severe head injury in a snowmobiling accident 16 years ago and spent 48 days in a coma. Connelly, who said he considers Jones a dear friend, committed himself to helping her recover when doctors and even her family planned to have her institutionalized. He said he asked the doctors to give him a year, and they advised him to give up after three months of helping her with physical therapy.
Connelly, however, applied his own business logic to the situation - something bad happened, he said, but what are we going to do to help Donna get better. Today, she lives a physically active life and runs, bikes and swims. His work with Jones is chronicled in the book, "One More Sunset."
"The message is never give up and don't listen to anybody." Connelly said.
"Follow your heart , follow your dream, follow your passion."
He also preached generosity of spirit. Even if someone is multi-millionaire, he said, "the selfish person is never happy." To back up his works, Connelly, a past donor to the Tri-State Promoters, donated $1,000 toward the Promoters' Thanksgiving dinner.

Entrepreneur, author, humanitarian
Pennsylvania businessman joins Regis as Holtz Hall of Fame Distinguished American

EAST LIVERPOOL – In recognition of his entrepreneurial spirit, humanitarian contributions and leadership abilities, Jim Connelly has been selected at the Lou Holtz/Upper Ohio Valley Hall of Fame’s “Distinguished American” for 2002.
The award, established in 2000, recognizes successful individuals not from the Upper Ohio Valley who have, however, demonstrated acts of goodwill to the area. In being named a “Distinguished American,” Connelly joins past recipients, Glenn A. McCusker, CEO of Viking Components, and television personality Regis Philbin.
Upon making the presentation of the Distinguished American plaque to Connelly, Coach Lou Holtz said, “You’ve been a true friend, not just of the Hall of Fame -- not just to the people of the Ohio Valley and the students. Anytime there is a humanitarian cause Jim is there to help, and I can tell you things that he has done on behalf of other people, and he’s done them unselfishly. He’s done them unselfishly and at a great price financially to him, but he has expected absolutely nothing in return because that is the type of person he is.”
Frank Dawson, president of the Hall of Fame, noted that Connelly has been an ardent supporter of the Hall of Fame, sponsoring golf teams in the annual celebrity golf outing and contributing an annual scholarship on behalf of his late mother, Clare Connelly, in memory of Coach Holtz’ mother, Anne Tychonievich Holtz, who died in November 1999. Connelly’s mother died in July 2001.
Dawson added that Connelly joined the Hall of Fame’s Board of Trustees in 2000 and has spent countless hours in East Liverpool not only involved with Hall of Fame matters, but also with other groups within the city including the Tri-State Promoters Cultural and Creative Society.
“It is because of his faithfulness and loyalty to this community of which he is an adopted member and a group of friends with whom he has become extremely close that we present our third ‘Distinguished American’ award to Jim Connelly,” Dawson said in making the presentation.
Connelly, a native of Turtle Creek, Pa., serves as chairman of Integrated Communications Services, which he and his son, Jeff, co-founded and own. The company, which provides services nationwide, is headquartered in Farmington Hills, Mich. Connelly also is active in the real estate investment market.
After graduating from high school, he completed a two-year military service, becoming a Signal Corp specialist. Upon returning to civilian life and between recessions and strikes at the factories, he relocated to California and secured a position as a room clerk at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. His performance soon caught the eye of the hotel owner, and Connelly began accelerating up the ladder of success. He became the general manager of the $100 million hotel, a position he held for 10 years. During this time, he earned the trust and friendship of entertainers, captains of industry and political figures.
During his rise to the top and exploring several new business opportunities, Connelly was invited by the chairman of Shearson Lehman to join the Wall Street firm. He was the first non-college graduate accepted into the firm’s management program and graduated from the New York Institute of Finance in the top 10 percent of his class. He was one of the highest performing investment bankers for the next five years.
Because of his experience and innate ability to lead people, Connelly founded and is president of International Leadership, an educational forum available to officers of companies desiring to become more successful leaders. This process includes individual coaching and team counseling in the areas of personal leadership skills such as goal setting, time management, building a plan of action and self-motivation. At the request of President Ronald Reagan, Connelly facilitated Leadership Goal Setting for the California Governor’s conference and the President’s Committee for Employment of People with Disabilities held at Stanford University. Connelly was the keynote speaker for the Volunteers of America Midas Touch program for gifted inner-city children, sponsored by TRW and the Los Angeles Rotary Club. Additionally, he served as a consultant to the board of Hughes Aircraft for many years and as the director of the Marina City Club. He also was president of the Cal-Neva Hotel and Casino.
In addition to his entrepreneurial activities, he has served a great part of the last 16 years caring for a dear friend, Donna Jones, who suffered a severe head injury 17 years ago as a result of a snowmobile accident. Despite the medical community’s prognoses that there was little hope for her to have an independent life, Connelly was determined to give his friend every opportunity to regain as much independence as possible. He put together a team of special people dedicated to bringing quality to her life, and she does live a full and independently. The success of the story is documented in a book written by Connelly entitled, One More Sunset (www.onemoresunset.com), a compelling story of survival through commitment, trust and love.
Connelly has made a career of helping people. He is a contributor to the University of Notre Dame and resides with his wife, Kate and daughter, Katy Clare, at the edge of the Notre Dame campus.

Reprinted from: www.louholtzhalloffame.com