Ashland's community service Superman

Jim Teece's credo, as posted at his blog www.jimteece.com is: "Whatever you do, Do with Integrity, Wherever you go, Go as a Leader, Whomever you serve, Serve with Caring, Whenever you dream, Dream with your All, and ... Never, ever give up."

Jim lives his credo.

In addition to his technology business (Project A), supporting his wife Dena (who has a passion for horses works with Hope Equestrian), supporting his kids Teague, 13, and Quinn, 10, Jim also serves on the boards of Asante and Southern Oregon University, is the president of the board of directors of the Ashland Independent Film Festival, serves on various committees in town — including Ashland Fiber Network, Jefferson Public Radio, and the Bellview building committee and site council — and has developed two valuable web resources for Ashland: www.freba.net (a place to share resources and keep usable goods out of the landfill) and www.todayinashland.com (a community calendar).

In addition — and this is by no means a complete listing""Jim also remains involved with the Chamber of Commerce after serving a couple years ago as president, and has hosted his own television program — Tech Talk — on RVTV for the past eight years.

Jim does it all with integrity, as a caring leader, and with a seemingly inexhaustible supply of energy and ideas.

DT: What inspired you to get so involved?

Jim: A few years ago I asked myself, "What am I doing with my life? I like my business, my family life, but what am I doing beyond that?" I'm passionate about healthcare, education, and small business. So, I came home and got involved. With the Chamber, Asante, SOU ...

I serve on the boards for a reason. Our community has a foundation that cannot grow without bridges between all the community partners. For example, SOU and Asante need each other. We need them to work together. And the rewards, for me, are in the big picture, and in the human lives that get touched.

DT: In order to perhaps get insight into what inspires, drives, and keeps you so energized, could you please tell us a little about your early years?

Jim: I was born in the Philippines; we lived there until moving to Southern California when I was five. My dad left when I was nine, leaving my mom with four kids""me being the oldest. I was in charge of watching my siblings so I didn't dream much. I loved helping my mom by raising money any way I could. When I got my first job at a pizza parlor, I was happy that I could buy her a washer and dryer so she didn't have to keep schlepping down to the laundromat.

My mom really inspires me. She worked so hard to get us out of trouble and off of welfare. She cleaned apartments during the day and went to school at night to become a US citizen, and then a nurse. What she did, stops me from feeling tired.

When I thought about growing up, mostly I wanted to be a dad — one that wouldn't leave. I do remember thinking about becoming a scientist. I got this book that showed a scientist looking through a microscope and taking notes. So I practiced with a toilet paper roll.

DT: Obviously you were eventually bitten by the technology bug.

Jim: I started a programming company when I was 18. I wrote programs for the Commodore VIC-20, and the Commodore 64. I also wrote video game programs — and over the next five years — commodity trading programs, MRI and CT scanning systems, triathlon timing systems, etc.

DT: How did you get involved with programming at such a young age?

Jim: I was just lucky. I have a knack for solving problems and creating solutions. People would just ask me to work on their project.

DT: What are your favorite technology/web-based projects currently?

Jim: The Technology Pavilion at the Jackson County Fair. We're in our 12th year.

Freba.net, and TodayinAshland.com — I hope to expand them, see them grow and become resources the whole community uses. I consider them to be part of Ashland's Community Operating System.

Non-Profit-in-a-Box — a complete front-end website solution I'm working on, combined with a back-end non-profit management system.

DT: Please tell us about your business, Project A.

Jim: Dena and I founded Project A in Arizona in 1990. Our first three clients were Taco Bell, CBC Commercial Real Estate, and Apple Computer. We moved the company to Ashland in 1992.

We're known for our e-commerce solutions. We provide website development and hosting to companies around the world, and locally. For example, we built Dr. Marten's (the shoe company) e-commerce site and host it here in Ashland on AFN. If you make a donation to JPR at Jeffnet, or buy tickets to the Lithia Amphitheater or to AIFF, you're using our e-commerce tools.

We also create custom programs. We recently won an award for a human resources system we wrote for ODOT.

We're mostly known for Site-in-a-Box, a product I developed a few years ago. It's used by municipalities like Ashland, Medford, San Diego; it's used by Jackson County, and over 90 percent of the schools in Southern Oregon use it. What it does is allow you to change your website, to add and delete content, without having to call us or have a dedicated webmaster.

DT: Out of all you do, which we've only just begun to cover, what tugs at your heartstrings the most?

Jim: Whether it's the Technology Pavilion and watching kids' faces light up in a rainbow of emotion when they create a piece of music on the computer for the first time, or helping kids in the computer lab at Bellview, or when I help clean stalls at Hope Equestrian and see what getting on a horse does for a child with autism, it's things where I can see the effect on children.

Debi's note: At one point in the interview, Jim, who is incredibly humble and more than a little humorous, says: You know, I actually feel rather boring. A good Ashlander profile would be on a guy who travels to Borneo three times a year to save the cork trees, has friends in Brazil that he parties naked with, is changing all the light bulbs in Gore's mansions to solar fluorescent, and likes to drink coffee at The Beanery on Tuesdays. Me, I'm just a dad.

Debi Smith is a local Tidings correspondent. Your comments, or suggestions for future profiles, can be sent to debi@mind.net.