Jim Host

Background

Host was born in Kane, Pennsylvania to Wilford and Beatrice Host. His father worked in tanneries, and they traveled from Pennsylvania to New York to Virginia to West Virginia looking for work.

Education

University of Kentucky.

Career

He is currently the chairman of Volar Video, a venture specializing in the delivery of customized video across television, computer and mobile platforms. The family settled in Ashland, Kentucky when Jim was an eighth grader. He was one of the first recipients of a baseball scholarship offered by the University of Kentucky.

He earned a bachelor"s degree in radio arts from the university in 1961.

Following his career as a Wildcat, Host was a pitcher in the Chicago White Sox farm system until he suffered a career-ending arm injury. Politics He later became commissioner of the department of parks and helped to start the Kentucky Horse Park.

Host Communications In 1972, Host started Jim Host & Associates, which later became Host Communications, Incorporated. Within a week of starting his company, he was contacted by Fayette County officials to do promotional work for the Lexington Tourist and Convention Bureau.

That relationship eventually led to the formation of the Lexington Center Corporation, which oversaw construction of the Lexington Civic Center and Rupp Arena.

His company continued its rise to prominence when it bought the radio broadcast rights to University of Kentucky football and basketball games in 1974. Host paid $51,887 for the rights and financed the deal with the help of a letter of cr from his Lexington banker. More growth came when Host started a business relationship with the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 1975.

He is credited with implementing the first collegiate corporate marketing program with the national organization in 1985.

Through the years, Host Communications expanded its marketing and promotional services to other universities and athletic conferences. At its peak, the company had more than 800 employees, 24 offices across the country and $140 million in annual revenue.

Louisville Arena Authority In 2005 Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher created the Louisville Arena Authority, Incorporated., and named Host as the Chairman. The group was tasked with overseeing the construction of a new arena for the city of Louisville, which resulted in the construction of the Kentucky Fried Chicken Yum! Center.

Host did not accept pay in his role as Chairman, and stepped down from his position in 2011 at the age of 74.

Achievements

• In 2003, Host was given a University of Kentucky Public Relations Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2010, Host was inducted into the Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. In 2014, Host was recipient of National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame"s award for Outstanding Contribution to Amateur Football.

Politics

In 1971, Host unsuccessfully ran for Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky on the ticket of Republican Tom Emberton after the political party was criticized for leading the increase of the state"s sales tax rate.

Membership

In 1967, at age 29, he became the youngest member of Kentucky Government. Louie B. Nunn"s cabinet as commissioner of the department of public information.