Rotarian of the Year learned business sense at early age

BLUEFIELD — As a third grade student at Bluefield’s Ramsey School, Jim Ferguson couldn’t wait for class to end each day so he could race out of the school building down Ramsey Street and dash into the alley near the rear entrance of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph building.

“My mom taught me how to make money,” Ferguson said. “My dad had a modest income and steady work, but there were eight of us kids — four boys and four girls — and all of us were expected to make a contribution to the family. I started out selling the afternoon paper — the Sunset-News Observer. I bought the papers for 4 and one-half cents each and sold them for 7 cents each. I always bought 10 or 12. I knew that if I could sell 10 papers, I could make a quarter.”

Bluefield was a bustling community 45 years ago, with most of the offices in the downtown commercial district filled, sidewalks filled with people and the streets crammed with traffic. Ferguson knew that if he could be the first news hawker to buy his papers and start calling out the headlines as he walked down the street, he could sell all of his papers quickly. Eventually, he landed an afternoon route in the city’s West End, delivering 45-50 newspapers six afternoons per week.

“My customers had expectations from me,” Ferguson, now 55, president of Mountain Star LLC, doing business at Hardee’s of Bluefield said. Mountain Star operates 27 stores in all phases of the business and provides management operations for an additional 15 Hardee’s restaurants. Mountain Star has 14 restaurants in West Virginia, 12 in western North Carolina, one in Kentucky and one in Georgia. Ferguson said the company has about 800 employees

“It was an experience for me to learn about business at an early age,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson played basketball in high school including one year at Bluefield High School and two at Rocky Gap High School after he went to Bland County to help out at his sister’s home. He returned to BHS to complete his senior year, and graduated in 1974. Although his family commitments sidetracked him from his high school dream of playing hoops for BHS, his son, Brad Ferguson, played for Beaver and was on the 1995 championship team.

“That was a phenomenal team,” Jim Ferguson said of the 1995 Beaver roundballers. Ferguson recalled the night when Beaver defeated a talent-laden DuPont High School that included future NFL great Randy Moss and future NBA star Jason Williams. “Brad hates when I tell this, but he guarded Randy Moss for two or three minutes in that game and Randy didn’t score when Brad was guarding him,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson planned to pursue a career in law enforcement after high school and attended the National Academy of Law Enforcement. After working for a short time in that field, he decided to return to the business world, and took several management and self-development classes through a variety of schools. He has taken several classes at Bluefield State College, and even took an Occupational Safety and Health Administration course at West Virginia University.

“I’m a died-in-the-wool WVU fan,” Ferguson said. “I love West Virginia and WVU is the flagship university of the state. I love our flagship university. Since I was 12, I listened to the Mountaineers on radio. I get to as many football games as I can.” Ferguson traditionally travels to the WVU bowl games, and is active in the Mountaineer Athletic Club.

In 1977, he and Jay McClees chartered the Dermox Hardee’s Restaurant on Bluefield Avenue together. “We were the original management team,” he said. “Jay was in administration and I was in operations. We started the Bluefield Avenue Hardee’s together, but when we opened the restaurant on Stafford Drive, I spent most of my time at that restaurant. Jay left the company in 1995. I wear multiple hats now.”

Along with maintaining a business that runs and/or operates several restaurants, Ferguson lends support to many statewide and local initiatives by opening his restaurants to fund-raising activities including his support for the WE CAN (Working to Eliminate Child Abuse and Neglect) program as well as support for several regional health initiatives. He has even worked to promote awareness of statewide programs including the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame project and various other programs in support of the humanities, history and culture of the Mountain State.

The Bluefield Rotary Club recently named Ferguson 2009 “Rotarian of the Year,” in recognition of his tireless efforts on behalf of the many communities that he serves, his business philosophy that emphasizes his own love of people and his efforts on behalf of Rotary.

“I was thrilled when I heard (James H.) “Smokey” Shott (III) announce my name,” Ferguson said. “I do enjoy people ... working with people and serving the public. There are certainly many challenges in operating a business, but I love the reasons why I work. I love my family, and I will do all I can to support them.”

Ferguson is married to Sarah (Smith) Ferguson, the daughter of legendary Beaver half-back, Robert “Poo-Eye” Smith, who was selected to the Grantland Rice High School All-American football team prior to the start of World War II. His daughter, Brianne, and son Brad are both working in professional careers and are both graduates of WVU. “They are great kids,” he said.

Ferguson expressed his thanks to the Bluefield Rotary Club for the honor he received.

– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com

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