Charapich means business

Jim Charapich, president and CEO of the Culpeper Chamber of Commerce since July 1, got his start in the construction industry building townhouses for college students in Harrisonburg.

He was fresh out of college himself — James Madison University — with a bachelor’s degree in business management.

It was the start of a decades-long career in the construction business and as he worked his way up Charapich, an Alexandria native, moved on to various positions in the field mostly in northern Virginia.

He was manager with Rocco Building Supplies for two years and a sales representative for Allied Plywood, an employee-owned business, for seven.

Charapich found Culpeper in the mid-90s when he took a position at Builder’s First Source, a national corporation, out at the airpark. He commuted to and from Springfield for a year before moving his family to Culpeper 14 years ago.

Charapich then shifted careers to Stock Building Supply, an internationally traded group of building companies, as area sales manager for the D.C. area.

He stayed with that position for three years before moving on to his own construction consulting business.

Now, the 48-year-old husband and father of three is hoping to build on his varied business know-how at the helm of the 550-member chamber.

“As I pursued it, as I interviewed for this opportunity, I just said, ‘This is my experience, this is where I’ve been.’ It was business experience and I think that was the attractive point,” Charapich said from his office in the Depot Thursday morning.

He’s worked for large, small and mid-sized companies and Charapich has worked for himself.

“So I guess the story there is the range of experience and how that applies to the chamber because we have that broad range of businesses in Culpeper.”

Chamber Chairman Win Carithers, a local mortgage banker, said the board’s decision to select Charapich as its new president from among some 30 applicants was unanimous.

And yes, it was because of his experience, Carithers said.

“He had tremendous insight into what businesses need and how we need to provide that,” he said. “Jim also had a good vision for the future and is strong from a technology standpoint.”

The fact that he was a Culpeper person — one applicant hailed from as far away as Alaska — didn’t hurt either, Carithers said.

“But local wasn’t that big a deal. The big deal was his responses to the interview questions and the fact that he’s very open-minded to look at anything,” he said.

Charapich, officially on the job for about two weeks, worked side-by-side with former, longtime Chamber President Norma Dunwody for three months before taking over.

During her 15-year tenure, Dunwody helped grow chamber membership nearly threefold. Charapich, then, has some big shoes to fill, Carithers said.

“Norma had relationships with people in this community that were second to none.”

Charapich realizes that networking is a big part of his role as chamber president.

“Marketing opportunities, professional development, being a legislative voice and advocate for businesses and improving economic development in the community,” he said of his other roles, reading from a piece of paper pinned behind his desk.

In his short tenure, Charapich has already developed a 4 1/2-page “to-do” list.

The items are color-coded and check-marked by priority.

Top on the agenda is development of next year’s curriculum for the chamber’s decade-old Leadership Development Program — a five-month class focusing on government, local economy, education and social issues.

He’s also helping oversee a new chamber program for young professionals.

Business, Industry and Education Day is Aug. 7 at the high school, Charapich went on, reading from his date book, and the Peper Open Golf Tournament is Sept. 29.

Longer term, Charapich said, he wants to help chamber members continue to find relevance in chamber-provided programs and services.

Among those services, is keeping members abreast of local politics, he said.

Culpeper is at a historic juncture, Charapich added, with recent talks between the town and county regarding a joint water and sewer authority.

“That they are able to look at the community as a whole and see the benefits of working together, I can’t say enough about my respect for the Board of Supervisors and Town Council.”

Working together as a chamber to keep local business sustainable in a struggling economy is also a priority.

Thus, the chamber’s push for consumers to “Keep it Local.”

About half of Culpeper’s working population commutes, Charapich said, meaning lost local dollars. Spending money in Culpeper is the better choice.

“For every $1 spent at a big box store, 15 cents is reinvested locally,” Charapich said, citing an article by Sustainable Seattle.

“But for a small business, that means 45 cents comes back into the community.”

Charapich is also very much interested in facilitating the shift to e-commerce — setting up or increasing a company’s presence on-line. The chamber is moving to introduce new member software to help in that regard.

Looking back at the past three months, the level of cooperation in Culpeper has caught Charapich’s attention.

“Everybody works together,” he said. “I think that is one of the great stories of Culpeper.”

Not to mention the history, unique business offerings and stunning natural beauty.

“As you’re driving down 29, you’re coming back from work and it’s a summer afternoon and you look to the west and you see that mountain view, to some degree you realize that’s why you came to Culpeper,” said Charapich, an early riser.

Two days a week, he teaches a spinning class at 5:45 a.m. at the Powell Wellness Center.

He also is an avid listener of books, he said, reading off his latest “play list” from a handheld electronic device.

Chamber Vice Chairman Karen Carroll, vice president of administration at Environmental Systems, said Charapich is the right guy for the job.

“His background is business and we felt like that was a good fit for us,” she said Thursday. “Plus, he knew the community really well and understood small business and large business.”

That sentiment was solidified during the chamber board’s first recent official meeting with its new CEO.

“I just feel like he is right on track,” Carroll said.

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or .