Aces of Trades: Michael Corcoran carrying on family legacy at Shawnee Lanes
CHILLICOTHE – He had an idea in mind and ended up doing even more.
“As a kid growing up,” recalled Michael Corcoran, “my interests were sports and the farm. It was all about the farming life for me. I always knew that was the future I wanted, so I worked towards that goal from a young age.”
And yet, Corcoran’s parents were part of the original group that founded Shawnee Lanes.
“Shawnee opened in 1959 as a 16-lane center,” he said. “Over the years, they expanded two separate times to a 40-lane center. They also built and operated Prairie Lanes in Circleville, before selling it, as well as having some other business interests. Each of the original families had seats on the board of directors.”
“Around 2005,” he continued, “my father began having some health issues and asked me to represent him on the board of directors at Shawnee Lanes. After a couple years, the manager also began having health issues and the board asked me to help with financial oversight, and eventually asked me to take over that part of the business. I served as president of the board for about five years, and served as CFO for those years also, and continue as CFO now, representing myself and my siblings’ interest in the business.”
Corcoran, now 66, grew up on a farm in Ross County, one of 16 siblings – eight boys and eight girls.
“My earliest memories of Shawnee,” he noted, “are tagging along with my dad when he went to a monthly board meeting and rolling a bowling ball down the lane while he was in his meeting. Unfortunately, I’m not much better at bowling now than I was then!”
Corcoran graduated from Bishop Flaget High School in 1975 and from Ohio State ATI (the school’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences in Wooster) with a degree in agriculture/crop production. He then managed a large farm in the Columbus area and farmed 2,000 acres in Florida. In 1986 he came back to Ross County and went into the farming business with his father and brother.
“While I was still farming on a fairly large scale,” he said, “it was tough finding the time needed to attend to the duties I had at Shawnee. I stepped away from actively farming in 2009, and that allowed me to devote a little more attention to things at Shawnee, as well as some other interests I have.”
Susan Rittinger is staff manager at Shawnee Lanes.
“Michael has always displayed a high degree of integrity, responsibility, dependability, and has always maintained his professionalism as CFO of the center,” assessed Rittinger. “Michael genuinely cares about the people employed here as well as the business. The city of Chillicothe and Shawnee Lanes are lucky to have someone who cares about the future of the business and wants what’s best for our community.”
“I’ve always tried to be the best I could be at whatever I do,” Corcoran responded. “Whether it be farming, or CFO of Shawnee Lanes, or being a dad, or being a volunteer, I try to be the best at whatever I’m doing. Unfortunately, I’m not much better at bowling now than I was when I was a kid!”
Shawnee Lanes is located at 1680 N. Bridge St. in Chillicothe. For more information, call 740-773-3300 or log on www.shawneelanes.com.
About the Series
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at gaznews@nncogannett.com or 740-349-1110.
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Aces of Trades: Michael Corcoran carrying on family legacy at Shawnee Lanes
