STN's Chuck Colby's Recipe for Success

Sun Times News Owner Chuck Colby likes cooking omelets, and he made about 60 of them (if everyone ate just one) at the newspaper’s networking event on Friday, Jan. 27.

Once a month, the newspaper hosts a breakfast featuring Chef Colby’s scrambling wizardry as guests connected to the Sun Times line up, select their ingredients, and chat in the few minutes it takes to create his omeletesque miracle.

The breakfasts are fun and engaging, but they (ahem) serve
a larger purpose, too.

“We do this breakfast for several reasons,” says Colby. “The first is to keep warm relationships with our advertisers. The second part is that we like to offer networking opportunities and bring people together. Our unwritten rule is that if you come to breakfast, bring somebody new the next time you come.”

Realtor Rick Taylor has been an ardent supporter of the Sun Times News for years. Chuck Colby awarded Rick with a personalized travel tumbler. Photo courtesy of Evan Arhangelos.

Few things can enliven a meeting more than good food. Colby has had a lot of support in that department. Realtor Rick Taylor has sponsored many of the breakfasts. Other business people have lined up to sponsor future ones.

“We've got so many great volunteers, who have just come forward to help,” says Colby. “It is because they are aligned with the purpose of the breakfast,” says Colby. “Costco is one such business, and our friend Angela Edens is our bacon angel. Costco has been very supportive of the breakfast since we started.”

No lengthy presentation is planned. Each month highlights an area non-profit, which the $10 breakfast ticket price goes to support. Representatives from the featured organization are asked to speak for a few minutes, explaining their program. Sometimes others are invited to talk on the spur of the moment. Everyone keeps it brief.

Colby invited Taylor to speak for a few minutes on the state of real estate. Taylor said that when the interest rates rose dramatically in a relatively short time, it “put the brakes” on new sales. However, he added that people are getting used to the higher rates, and houses are moving again.

(L-R) Kate Yocum & Chrissie Kremzier of SRSLY, Evan Arhangelos & Chuck Colby of the Sun Times News. Photo courtesy of Evan Arhangelos.

Friday’s breakfast featured SRSLY Chelsea and SRSLY Dexter. The organizations are community coalitions of adults and youth dedicated to preventing destructive behaviors in youth, essentially decreasing or preventing substance use among youth.

Chrissie Kremzier, Director for SRSLY, spoke on the changing landscape of substance use and how the organization adapts. “We’ve started to shift gears a little bit towards focusing on mental health because we know that mental health and substance use often go hand in hand, she said.”

Kate Yocum, Director for SRSLY Chelsea, touched on the many initiatives the coalition has to support youth and their parents.

“When we come together to show our teenagers that we care and to build a community and network of support for them and around them that is designed in a way that they need and they can respond to, that's where we see change,” said Yocum.

The breakfasts continue to grow. It is all part of Chuck Colby’s vision of taking the Sun Times News beyond information distribution and making it a hub for community connection.

“The truth is, I would still put on some sort of breakfast even if my business didn't benefit from it,” says Colby. “I just really like cooking, omelets, and visiting with people. That said, it's a lot of work, and I'm grateful for all of the hands that help.”

If you are interested in watching the hardest-working omelet chef in action, contact Chuck Colby at ccolby@thesuntimesnews.com for an invite.

Photos by Doug Marrin