YEDC Speaker: 'It's Risky Business'

Jerry Markbreit wasn’t nervous when he applied to be an NFL referee at age 40, but his first NFL game terrified him.

After that, he flubbed the coin toss at the beginning of Super Bowl XVII, ejected a Green Bay Packers player who body-slammed a Bears player at Soldier Field and held his ground against much larger players who disagreed with his decisions.

He also cursed into an open mic at least once.

The secret – as he told the crowd at the annual dinner Thursday – is to know when to be tough, when to have heart and when to laugh at yourself. (To hear a clip of Markbreit speaking, click on the video attached to this article.)

“You’ve got to be able to laugh at yourself,” the retired referee said, speaking at . “People don’t want to hear how great you are. They want to know you’re human.”

His comments came after the Yorkville Economic Development Corporation leaders recognized local businesses for their expansion and redevelopment efforts and recounted their own efforts to revitalize their organization.

The Yorkville Economic Development Corporation, which was founded in 2000, found itself struggling about two years ago in the down economy, said now-Chairman John Ammons, of .

“We all knew that it was very difficult to keep a totally dues-funded organization running in a down economy,” Ammons said. “But it’s in these times more than ever that an organization like the YEDC is needed.”

The corporation’s board developed a committee structure that reinvigorated the organization so it could be a sustainable asset for the local business community, he said.

“My biggest thanks I want to give is to every board member, because they dug in and worked,” Ammons said. “And we committed to a committee structure that now makes the YEDC stronger than it’s ever been, in my personal opinion.”

The corporation has about 160 members, and Executive Director Lynn Dubajic sits at a table with Yorkville city staff during City Council meetings.

But, as Markbreit said minutes later, it is the risks and the hard work that show how good one is, whether in a traditional work setting or in officiating football games.

“(Officiating is) a microcosm of the real world,” Markbreit said. “That three hour and 15 minute football game is your 40, 50, 60, 70 hour week, and it’s risky stuff. You make a mistake out there, and everybody in the country sees it. But how do you find out how good you are? It’s just risky business.”

Winners of the Yorkville Economic Development Corporation's Golden Arrow Awards are:

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