Name:Tim Foster

Company: College of the Sequoias

Title: Director of the COS Foundation

Why do you serve on the Chamber Board of Directors?
We at the college strive to be a valuable partner in business and in the community. I always look for ways for the College of the Sequoias and the COS Foundation to build stronger community bonds. Serving on the board alongside some great business leaders has proven to be a great way to connect and grow community relationships.

What has the Chamber done in the last 12 months that has helped your business? The Chamber has highlighted some businesses throughout the year and celebrated some very special businesses and individuals recently during their annual awards gala. Many of those business leaders are alumni of the College of the Sequoias and the businesses are supporters of the college. It is great to celebrate the successes and community contributions of our COS alumni.

Please answer at least 3 of the following questions.

1. What motivates you to work hard? I just like to connect with and help wherever I can. I found that working in not-for-profit service organizations helped me achieve this and support my own family well. It is hard to delineate clearly when work stops and my personal time begins. That is ok. I enjoy this lifestyle of connection and service in my hometown.

2. What is your favorite game or sport to watch and play? I have two. My wife, Norma, and I love to follow and attend races in the Indy Car series. We support different drivers and teams. We also especially love following our COS men’s and women’s basketball teams. We love all of our COS teams but find ourselves traveling to more away games for basketball. We volunteer; she takes pictures, and I take videos of all their games.

3. If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to? The turn of the 20th century seems like such a time of incredible innovation and growth. I’d love to be a fly on the wall during that time.

4. Is your glass half full or half empty? My cup is definitely “half full”. An extreme example is knowing that of all the charitable causes people in the US support, higher education receives the most financial support. Community Colleges receive 2% of all donations to higher education. I set this as a tremendous opportunity to secure a larger “market share” for our local institution of higher education and get more resources for the success of COS students.

5. What was your first job?Besides a paper route and some small fast-food jobs, my first career job was as a dinner cook at The Chinowth House Restaurant in the late 1980s; now, it’s the Encanto Restaurante. I thought I wanted to be a chef until after a few years of working as a dinner cook.

6. What’s your favorite thing/place to do/visit in Visalia? I have a group of friends I have coffee with every Friday morning. We have been doing it for over 25 years now, and we have known each other since high school. We see others coming through Component Coffee while we are there and get to have a brief conversation. It reminds me why I like to live in a small town and get to know so many people.