Mike McDorman, president and CEO of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, said McGregor had been involved in “almost every big project” in the city in the past 20 years. “You simply don’t replace a person like that.”
On a personal level, “I will miss seeing him around the chamber table in his workout clothes every other Monday morning,” McDorman said.
At those meetings with representatives of the city and county government, the chamber and former U.S. Rep. David Hobson, McGregor was always active in “debating the issues of the day and trying to moves us forward,” McDorman said.
McDorman said McGregor was instrumental in 2006 in rallying the business community to support the ultimately successful $160-million levy to rebuild the Springfield City Schools.
Calling McGregor “passionate about education,” McDorman said that after that levy failed three times, “he asked the chamber board to put almost $30,000” into hiring a Washington, D.C., based polling agency to research how best to wage a successful campaign.
“You can imagine, the chamber didn’t feel they had the money at the time,” McDorman said, “But he kept advocating 'we cannot not do this.’ ”
The chamber eventually agreed to fund the project and with Hobson making calls in the Republican areas of the city and Mayor Warren Copeland making calls to Democrats, “they passed it overwhelmingly on the fourth try,” McDorman said. “That’s the Jim McGregor I remember.”
McGregor’s nephew, state Rep. Ross McGregor, R-Springfield, called his uncle’s death “an incredible shock. So many people had spoken with him just before he got on the plane to come home.”
A 1966 graduate of North High School, McGregor graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1971 and joined his brother Dan at Morgal Machine Tool Co. as production manager in 1974.
They subsequently opened OSMI stamping and Rose City Machine, then added Carmichael Machine, all in Springfield. The McGregors in 2005 built South Carolina Metal Products to expand into the Southeast.
The McGregor Metalworking Web site notes Jim McGregor’s efforts to advocate for small business through the U.S. Department of Commerce Manufacturing Council, the Ohio Manufacturers’ Council and the Precision Metalforming Association. He also served on the President’s Manufacturing Council in the Bush and Obama administrations.
He also is a former chair of the Clark County Republican Party and served on the board of the Springfield Museum of Art.
McGregor is survived by his wife, Nancy, of 37 years; two grown children, son Jamie and daughter Jenni; and five grandchildren. Brother Dan also sister Susie McGregor White also survive. Brothers Thomas and Jack preceded him in death.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Richards, Raff & Dunbar Memorial Home.
Said Ross McGregor, “It’s going to be hard to imagine a world without Jim McGregor.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0368.
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