The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

New YMCA director familiar with surroundings

Beach Waterpark sued by Ohio Attorney General's Office for failure to deliver
New 7 min. ago
Worker falls 20 feet from utility pole
New 8 min. ago
Water rescue occurring at Caesar Creek Lake
Updated 10 min. ago
Out-of-state shoppers arrested in clothing theft
10:14 a.m.
Fairfield gas station robbed at gun point
10:02 a.m.
> More headlines

By Rick McCrabb, Staff Writer 8:07 PM Monday, February 13, 2012

HAMILTON — Linda Martin didn’t have to travel far for her next job.

Down one flight of stairs.

Martin, who served as marketing manager for the Great Miami Valley YMCA since 2007, recently was named executive director of the Hamilton Central YMCA, which is housed in the same 98-year-old building on North Second Street.

Martin replaces Angela Howard, who was hired as the executive director of the Middletown YMCA. The Middletown position became available when Terry Sherrer went from the Middletown YMCA to the Greater Cincinnati-Middletown Area United Way.

Martin, 43, who has worked for the YMCA for 13 years, called moving from marketing to management “an easy transition.” She hopes to use the contacts she made in the Hamilton community to “revitalize” dropping membership.

“We are alive and well and we need to let the community know that,” she said.

In the past five years, the Hamilton YMCA has lost about 100 membership units, down from 647, she said. Increasing the membership — or at least retaining members — will be her main priority, she said.

She said Hamilton is suffering through “a terrible economic downturn.”

Butler County’s unemployment rate was 7.9 percent in December, the most recent numbers available, according to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. It averaged 9 percent last year, according to the ODJFS.

Hamilton’s average unemployment rate in 2011 was 10.2 percent, according to the state. Hamilton has lost approximately 4,000 jobs in the past 15 years through 2011, according to the city, and in recent months stands to lose more than 300 from the closing of Mohawk Fine Papers and the potential closure of SMART Papers.

The loss of jobs and members go hand-in-hand, she said.

While she understands tight family budgets sometimes drive people to drop their memberships, she said there’s no price tag on good health.

“You can’t afford not to take care of yourself,” she said Monday afternoon while sitting in the YMCA’s lobby.

Woody Fitton, president and CEO of Greater Miami Valley YMCA, said Martin possesses “a real passion” for the YMCA and its principles. She can turn around the YMCA’s membership decline, he said.

“She’s a creative and innovative person,” he said. “We’re very excited to have her.”

Linda Martin

Age: 43

Residence: Liberty Twp.

Occupation: Executive director of Hamilton YMCA

Education: Washington High School, Washington, Ind., 1986; Vincennes University, 1988; Indiana University, 1990

Family: Daughters, Natalie, 14; Emily, 11.

Share this article