Beattie brings efficiency to Post 28
Efficiency is Jim Beattie’s middle name. As finance officer and adjutant for American Legion Post 28, he is constantly looking for ways to trim costs and bring a steady revenue stream to the post.
It’s paid off. The post brings in millions of dollars per year, and gives back to its veteran membership and the community.
Giving back is part of who Beattie is. Even when he thought about scaling back his time, his late wife Winnie knew differently. “She told me, ‘You were put on this earth to volunteer,’” said Beattie, who grew quiet with an introspective look on his face when remembering the woman he married in 1996 and lost in 2021.
Beattie grew up in Elsmere, graduating from Corpus Christie High School in 1964, before earning an associate’s accounting degree from Goldey-Beacom College, followed by a computer programming degree.
As the Vietnam War heated up in 1967, Beattie knew his number was coming up when he was called by a reserve unit in Aberdeen Proving Ground. He landed at the reserve unit on Kirkwood Highway and worked as a payroll clerk handling attendance and payroll. After 24 years, Beattie retired a master sergeant.
“That was my job,” he said. “Never did go to Vietnam, but in 1968, I got called up. We were ready to go, but three weeks before it was canceled. We never knew why.”
Beattie put another 24 years in with Delmarva Power, working with computers until the company merged with another. He then took that experience and started his own company specializing in mergers. He had contracts with WSFS Bank and then Chase Bank, which hired him full time to help cut costs. “I became known as the hatchet man,” he said. “I’ve always been good at finding ways to save money.”
Fast forward to the 2020 shutdown. Beattie found work-arounds to the state-mandated closures to keep patrons coming to the post. Tables replaced barstools, and social-distanced dance floors gave members a social outlet when many places shuttered.
Beattie retired for good in 2015, setting up in the Herring Point home his father bought for $2,000 in 1954. He has fond memories of those years with his father; he even helped build the original home. “I dug the septic tank,” he said with a chuckle.
It’s now home base for his family that includes two grown children in Florida, one in Washington state and two in Delaware.
He never expected to work in Post 28 administration, but after two years of working as assistant bar manager, and with the encouragement of his wife, Beattie served as commander from 2019 to 2021.
He credits his business background with helping make the post a success.
“You have to have a business background to run it because it is a business,” Beattie said.
After locking the facility into a low-interest loan, Beattie said he has a few plans for the 8-acre property. A ball field and team is one, and possibly bringing in a Boys & Girls Club is another. If the Boys & Girls Club doesn’t pan out, a spot for Mission BBQ or maybe a hotel could be next, he said.
Whatever it may be, with Beattie at the helm, it’ll be to the book.
“Everything I’ve done has come from a little old accounting background that I’ve never used from Goldey-Beacom College. It’s amazing,” he says with his good-natured smile and a twinkle in his eye.
