In 2005, Max McComb volunteered for his first parent committee for Mahomet-Seymour Community Schools. Little did the Champaign-area REALTOR® know that 11 years later, he’d be the school board president with a long list of accomplishments and plans to run for reelection in April 2017.
“I serve on the board for a couple reasons,” says McComb. “It’s about the school district, it’s about the quality of life here and it’s about my family’s history in education. My mother was a teacher and so is my son (Jon) and our daughter-in-law (Nicole).”
McComb says serving on the board has helped him in his job. For example, he says the negotiations for union contracts have sharpened his negotiating skills. By working with his fellow board members, the administration and the community, he’s also honed his problem-solving abilities and improved his ability to think on his feet and speak extemporaneously to public groups. As he looks back on what the board has accomplished during his tenure, he’s especially proud of the:
- superintendent hired in 2012;
- $17 million construction of east campus that includes preschool and kindergarten classrooms and district administrative offices;
- $2 million high school upgrade; and
- $2 million upgrade to one large elementary building.
The board is also planning to add first and second grade classrooms to the east campus and will have to search for a new superintendent since the current one is retiring following the 2016-17 year.
“I enjoy serving (on the school board),” says McComb, of RE/MAX Realty Associates in Champaign. “It has given me incredible visibility in the community.”
In 2011, McComb says he became involved in his local association – the Champaign County Association of REALTORS® (CCAR) – serving on several committees, and getting elected to the board of directors in 2014. He became secretary/treasurer in 2015, became president-elect in 2016 and will be president in 2017. He was chosen as CCAR’s 2016 REALTOR® of the Year.
On the state level, he was chosen for the 2014 Leadership Development Class, then served on multiple committees the next two years.
Read the Illinois REALTORS® Blog for periodic stories about association members who serve their communities through elected office. It’s another way the association is celebrating its 100th anniversary year. If you’d like to suggest a fellow REALTOR® for a story like this, please drop a note to [email protected].