His own identity - story on Jerry Jr.

His own identity - story on Jerry Jr.#45724

By Hold My Own - December 6th, 2006, 2:16 pm

- December 6th, 2006, 2:16 pm #45724

As far as I'm concerned he cant get enough press...heres another article to add to the file

http://www.bizjournal.com/content/article.php?id=376

Published December 4, 2006

His own identity
By Anne Johnson

Jerry Falwell Jr. sits at the head of a long conference table in room 1661 of the old Ericsson phone plant in Lynchburg. He is hunched forward, his blue blazer hanging open and his feet-adorned in a pair of dress-up Crock sandals-are crossed beneath him. His Motorola cell phone chimes loudly. He laughs at the obtrusive noise. "That sounds awful, doesn't it? My kids did that," he smiles.

The 44-year-old vice chancellor of Liberty University has a surname that resounds louder than a cell phone ring. Still, Falwell Jr. has taken his call to serve in a much different manner than his kin: he has helped set the foundations for what has been affectionately declared "Falwell Country." What most miss while the Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr. is broadcasting on televisions across the nation, or preaching in a 6,000-seat sanctuary, is what happens beyond the prayers-the daily business that is held on tables covered with blueprints and financial summaries in the long, narrow hallways of the former cell phone plant.

It's that day-to-day grind that Jerry Jr., as he is called around the university, has learned to handle. He has played a vital role in the development of Liberty as a powerhouse, helping to propel an old manufacturing town nestled beneath the Blue Ridge Mountains into a diverse economic force.

And more so, Falwell Jr. has helped Liberty crawl out of virtual financial doom to growth and expansion. From being roughly $80 million in debt in the 1990s to the prospect of a Liberty University monogram etched on the side of a mountain, the oldest of three children has become quite the businessman. "One of my biggest challenges over the next decade or so will be to find new ways to attract students to Liberty," Falwell says. So far, the vice chancellor and general counsel of Liberty is doing an above- average job. And he is not only working to bring in more students, but is active in a handful of other ventures involving the university.

In fact, as a private developer and consultant for Liberty and Thomas Road Baptist Church Falwell has had a hand in selling, leasing and developing nearly $100 million in retail properties, many of which sit close to the school. Such diverse and able skills have propelled Falwell to be named the 2006 Blue Ridge Business Journal Business Person of the Year.

Finding law

A child of his father's empire, Falwell Jr. attended Liberty Christian Academy as a child and received a B.A. in Religious Studies and History from what is now Liberty University in 1984. He went on to earn his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law three years later.

Law, Falwell Jr. says, was a fitting field to go into, offering just about everything he wanted. "I always wanted to do something entrepreneurial and law school, I thought, was a good background for whatever I ended up doing," he says. Falwell Jr.'s creative spirit was evident even as a child. He was reading the newspaper by the time he was two years old, according to his father.

So, following law school, and at the request of the senior Falwell, Jerry Jr. became general counsel to all Falwell Ministries. But the aspiring lawyer brought experiences in a variety of other areas, including property-a trade he learned while working with a local real-estate lawyer. "What I learned in those development ventures gave me the experience I needed to help Liberty maximize its property potential," Falwell Jr. says.

He then found others ways to help-a business venture here, property work there, all the while learning the ropes. In fact, Liberty's financial crisis taught the eager young Falwell Jr. things he might never have been able to learn in a classroom environment. "I learned a whole lot about public finance and debt restructuring," he says. "He has become a very gifted businessman; he is the best lawyer I know and he has helped us build an infrastructure for the administrative and financial perpetuity of Liberty University," Falwell Sr. says of his son.

Reorganized

In 2001, after years of restructuring and re-evaluation, the university recognized the need for more dormitories to house a growing population. That, Falwell Jr. says, led to questions of how to get students across the highway that parallels the main campus. "A lot of what we did was reactionary to the growth," he says. Those moves were substantially affected by Jerry Jr., according to his father. "He is the person I look to, always, in major decision making," says Falwell Sr.

So Lynchburg, with its 65,000 people, is continually bracing for change, as Liberty, under the direction of Jerry Jr., builds a $1-billion endowment and attempts to grow to 25,000 students-the size of Virginia Tech, the commonwealth's largest university now-in the next 10 years. The growth is overwhelming. There's the LaHaye Ice Center, which is open to the public, campus apartments, a student center. More recently have been efforts to etch a monogram on the side of Liberty Mountain, build nature and biking trails, build a new, freestanding bookstore and perhaps construct some all-season slopes.

That's right, Lynchburg could become a hopping place atop the mountain behind LU. Right now, a study by Liberty officials examines snow-free skiing, snowboarding and a tubing slope. For times when snow just can't be made, Liberty has been looking into using the mountain to accommodate a restaurant, a Mountain Coaster, a Zip Ride and various trail loops for hiking and mountain biking.

The growth is not without critics. Some opponents say that Liberty is taking money away from the city, by removing properties like the old Ericsson building from the tax role. Still, city officials easily passed the proposal and enjoy a close working relationship with Falwell Jr. "Any economy evolves and I think Lynchburg is fortunate that we have a growing university here that provides diversity to our economic mix," says Kimball Payne, Lynchburg city manager. Although the relationship between Liberty and the city has been strained in the past, each party is now looking toward complimentary goals. "I think there's a commitment on both parts to work together and accomplish the goals of both the city and Liberty University," Payne says. "We'd be crazy to be fighting each other."

The close relationship with the city is not the only one Falwell Jr. kindles. There are men behind Falwell, the ones who think up ideas like IMAX theaters and an all-season gravity park. They are financial advisors, construction experts, ministers, best friends-all whistling to their own tunes while getting the job done. "He gives us authority to actually do the sort of things that he has envisioned. Now that's what makes a strong leader," says Barry N. Moore, vice president of university relations, "Not a micromanager, but someone who can get his team all excited to want to come to work each day."

Who wouldn't get excited to go mountain biking on the job? "Where else can you go to work and talk about a transit system in the morning; you're up on a mountain doing a logging operation; then you're talking to ski consultants, mountain biking, you know, doing an IMAX capability study?" says Lee Beaumont, director of auxiliary services. "You learn so much and it's so different, it's almost like perpetual motion for me."

So while Falwell Jr.'s workers are diligently moving on the next project, their leader continues to look for new and exciting ways to attract students to the university-ways that can only differ from his father. "Dad has always had communication skills and a special charisma that are unique, I am sure no one else could have built Liberty from scratch the way he did using television, public appearances across the county and other direct mass mailing. We are not foolish enough to think that anyone can replace him," Falwell Jr. says. "Fortunately, though, we believe Liberty has achieved a critical mass now that is in many ways self-sustaining and we believe Liberty is finding its own identity." That identity involves the construction of facilities and the introduction of new programs, he adds.

So it appears that future is a bright one for Liberty with Falwell Jr. at the helm. The vice chancellor, legal counsel, business and development leader insists that even with nature trails and a Liberty Mountain monogram, the institution will not lose the values it was created to promote. "There are schools that started out like Liberty and when they become prominent they sort of moved away from what they started with," Falwell Jr. says.

"So we have the opportunity to keep Liberty true to its original mission but at the same time become a world-class university-that's what excites me."

(Anne Johnson is a senior economics major at Randolph- Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg.)