Chuck Osborne: Detailed Biography
Detailed Biography  |  Biographical Highlights  

Early Years
Military Career
Aviation Career
Post-Aviation Career
Family
Education
Osborne Family Genealogy

Post-Aviation Career

I was at the height of a very successful aviation career when I learned during a routine physical that there was a possibility I was a diabetic. Knowing that this was a potentially career-ending situation, with the support of my wife, Rita Palmer, I ended my commercial flying career and enrolled in business courses at the University of Akron in the spring of 1989. Having already completed college credits at the University of Maine many years earlier, I was able to complete my undergraduate degree two and one-half years later. I majored in Finance and I graduated, cum laude, in December 1991.

I continued my studies into the master’s program at the University of Akron in the fall of 1991 and completed my MBA in the spring of 1994. My area of concentration for my masters’ degree was in management.

A few months before graduating with my MBA, I was offered a position as a credit analyst with Bank One in Akron, Ohio. In this position, I gained valuable commercial lending experience working the commercial lending department. I analyzed financial statements for businesses requesting bank loans and made credit recommendations to the credit committee that met on a weekly basis.

I left Bank One after a year and accepted a position with Green Tree Finance in St. Paul, Minnesota. In this new position, I nearly doubled my previous salary, and was able to make good use of my previous finance experience and extensive knowledge of aviation. As a credit manager in Green Tree’s aircraft lending department, I was now financing the purchase of aircraft for individuals and companies throughout the country and routinely approving loans exceeding $500,000.

Corporate downsizing in banking and finance throughout the country seemed to be sweeping the industry at this time and after becoming a casualty of downsizing at Green Tree Finance, I returned to my home and wife in North Canton in 1996 after nearly a year away from home.

After returning to Ohio, I landed a newly created position, Aviation Safety Technician, with the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) in the spring of 1998. The downside was that the job was located in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Southern Florida was a long way from North Canton and my wife and home, but I relocated hoping that I could transfer to a location closer to Ohio after some time on the job. That is not how it worked out. The position with the FAA was so new that job responsibilities had not been determined, and after a short time on the job, with no assigned work to do, I resigned and returned to my wife and home in North Canton.

I spent the next two years working part-time as substitute teacher in the Stark County Schools and also completed an internship with the Louisville City Schools, which led to certification in Ohio as a school treasurer and a school business manager.

In the fall of 1998, I served as an adjunct college instructor at the University of Akron’s Wayne College Campus where I taught a first-year accounting class.

In 1999, I leveraged my knowledge of computers and was hired by Gateway Computer for a tech support position in Kansas City, Missouri. I was able to add to my knowledge of computers and earn several computer certifications while helping Gateway customers solve their computer problems from Gateway’s phone center.

The computer experience and certifications obtained while at Gateway Computer allowed me to secure a position in early 2000 with Time Warner Cable as a Road Runner Technician where I installed and serviced Time Warner Cable’s high-speed Internet cable-modem connection, named Road Runner.

After gaining on-the-job computer expertise with Gateway Computer and Time Warner Cable, I returned to my home and wife in North Canton and pursued additional computer certifications through home study and college classes. The computer certifications and experience has permitted be to work as a self-employed contractor providing computer technical support.

The flexibility of self-employment has allowed me to pursue a lifelong interest in city government and eventually run for North Canton City Council. Since winning the election in November 2001, I have spent a great deal of time researching the problems the city faces. I have also become very familiar with how the current city government works.  I have found the position both rewarding and challenging; I have also found a niche that permits me to make good use of a lifetime of experience.

As councilman at-Large, I have become convinced that questioning the actions of the current administration is what needs to be done if North Canton is to solve its current problems and move toward a brighter future.  I believe that North Canton legislators can only make wise decision on behalf of citizens when issues are researched and presented for public review and discussion.

I also believe that I am particularly well-suited by education, experience, and temperament to lead North Canton in an effort to create a city government capable of making the best decisions possible for its citizens. That is why I have decided to run for Mayor of North Canton. I hope you will vote for me.

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