Volunteer Spotlight
Jack Boyle: 5,000 Hours and Counting!
Jack Boyle, a COSI Guest Services volunteer, has volunteered at COSI for 9 years now, totaling more than 5,000 hours in service. Before he volunteered, Jack grew up in Pennsylvania, and later served in the US military in the Korean War. Jack attended a large variety of colleges in Ohio, including Columbus College of Art and Design, Ohio Dominican, Ohio State University, and Miami University, where he graduated. As a student, he took a wide variety of classes including acting and theater. After obtaining his CPA, Jack co-founded an accounting firm, which has since boomed. Jack also was a paid consultant for COSI before it moved to its new location in 1999.Jack’s accomplishments are as lengthy as they are impressive. He is married with two children and many grandchildren whom he enjoys spending time with. He strives to benefit the community by volunteering at a handful of organizations including COSI, United Way, and OSU. Jack feels that one of his greatest accomplishments is with Groner Boyle Quillin (GBQ), the accounting firm mentioned earlier that he co-founded. CBQ has grown from a two man show to over one hundred and thirty employees, making it the largest non-national firm in Franklin County. When asked how he was able to accomplish all of this, he replied, "You don’t have to be brilliant or anything, you just have to do things." Jack would know, having worked or volunteered since he was fourteen.
One reason that Jack has been able to carry his success in the field to aiding to the success of COSI is his philosophy that it is essential for any company or person to remain updated and with the times. He recalls in the early 1970s when CBQ spent thousands of dollars for its first computer, which needed its own air-conditioned room and only had a few kilobytes of memory. He and his associates truly knew the value of using resources to aid clients. During this interview, Jack went over to a modern desk computer to demonstrate some of its functions that he has learned and used to assist others with. At COSI he makes it a priority to stay updated with all information so as to be more helpful to guests and to help them plan or enjoy their stay.
He feels that the number one quality that has helped to be extraordinary is inquisitiveness; he wants to find out what clients or guests want so he can give them the exact information they need. As a matter of fact, he did this very thing several times during this interview. His message for new COSI team members and volunteers is to work hard and be responsible; he knows how much this advice has helped him in his own life. Jack feels that working with the younger members of COSI and COSI’s environment of learning and innovation is extremely beneficial to his own life. “The involvement with young people has a tendency to keep me young,” he states, and one only has to see the bounce in his step to agree.
