EDITOR’S NOTE:The four-member BHS Hall of Fame Class of 2016 will be recognized Sept. 17 at the Bridgeport Conference Center. Social hour will kick off the evening at 6 p.m. It will be followed dinner at 7 p.m. The cost to attend is $30 and tickets can be purchased by contacting the high school, any member of the Foundation or Darletta Stout, Foundation President, at 304-203-8300.

 

John Ebert is a 1982 graduate of University of Notre Dame with a degree in accounting. He attended Notre Dame on a baseball scholarship and played varsity baseball for four years and is a member of its monogram club.  John also attended entrepreneurial classes at M.I.T. in 1994 and 1995.

 

In 1982, John went to work for a Big 8 accounting firm, Arthur Young & Co in Dallas. Arthur Young's clients in Dallas included Frito Lay, American Airlines, Haggar Slacks and the Dallas Cowboys. One of his mentors was a manager named Gary Kelly. Kelly is now the CEO of Southwest Airlines.

 

In 1988, John and his father, Jack, were accepted into the McDonald's training program as registered applicants to purchase a McDonald's franchise. They purchased their first store in July of 1990 in Bridgeport. John now owns thirty-seven McDonald franchises, becoming one of the top 10 franchises in the country. John is the chairman of the East Division profit team and former winner of the Golden Arch Award, which is presented to less than 1% of the McDonald's owners /operators. He has spoken to numerous McDonald operator groups on how to improve their profitability by focusing on key drivers of the business. He recently received the 2016 Al Golin Brand Trust Award, one of the highest honors a McDonald's owner and operator can receive. He has more than 2,200 employees and is one of the largest employers in West Virginia.

 

John and his wife Cindy live in Bridgeport and have three children---Rachel, age 22 who is a Bridgeport High School Graduate, Jack, age 18, attends West Virginia Wesleyan on a football scholarship and Grace, age 15 who will be a sophomore at Bridgeport High School. John is co-chairman of the local 10k committee and is also a board member of MVB Bank.

 

Beginning in September 2012, John began sponsoring a math ACT prep class which he taught by him and Charlene Keener. Over 1300 students have attended this free class.  This class has helped many students especially from Bridgeport High School improve their math ACT score and helped them get the Promise scholarship.

 

John has been Partners in Education with Bridgeport High School for over 20 years and has worked with their marketing classes on numerous projects.

 

He has completed two marathons and in the last three years and has completed 12 triathalons.34