Published: July 13, 2008 09:55 am         

Businessman Bill Kurtz retiring

TRAVERSE CITY -- He started as a small businessman in Traverse City, his inventory limited to a handful of Thomas organs he sold in the back of a downtown music shop.

That was before Bill Kurtz served on multiple local government boards, ran for Congress and became embroiled in one of the area's hottest development disputes.

He's known to many as a former county commissioner, school board member and ex-Acme Township trustee and supervisor. But through it all he owned and operated Kurtz Music, a music shop that started in downtown Traverse City 41 years ago.

Kurtz is closing the store, now located at South Airport and Garfield roads in Garfield Township, and will retire after four decades of running his namesake business.

"I just felt it was time to look seriously at (retiring)," Kurtz said.

The sagging economy and falloff in local construction hurt demand for new pianos, he said, and there's been a "significant" drop in the market over the past couple years.

Kurtz came to Traverse City in the late 1960s from Adrian, where he worked for a music store chain. He invested $3,500 to buy five Thomas organs and displayed them at the rear of the old Wares Brothers Music Center, one of three music stores bunched together on Union Street downtown.

"It made an interesting synergy having all three of us there," he said. "It was kind of a music row."

By 1970 Kurtz moved into his own shop next to the State Theatre on Front Street. He expanded the business over the next 20 years by delving into high-fidelity stereo equipment, and started installing car stereos, now a separate business run by his son.

Downtown was a regional commerce hub during that period, and included a JC Penney store next to his shop, Milliken's department store and Montgomery Ward.

"As far as retail opportunities, downtown was where it was at," Kurtz said.

Kurtz also found himself drawn toward public service. He ran for the Grand Traverse County board in 1976 and served four terms, and held a four-year term on the Traverse City Area Public Schools Board of Education from 1988-92.

In 1992 he also served as chairman of the board for the Michigan Chamber of Commerce.

That year also marked his most-ambitious political move, running for Congress as a Republican in the aftermath of the House banking scandal. He finished second in a three-way primary race won by Phil Ruppe. Despite being badly outspent, Kurtz ran a respectable campaign and finished with 32 percent of the primary vote.

"That was great experience for me," he said. "In terms of dollar per vote, we did pretty well."

Kurtz also mentored other local officials who came along. Larry Inman, the current county commissioner from Acme Township, said it was Kurtz who encouraged him to run for public office. Kurtz also persuaded officials at the bank where Inman worked to let him do it.

"I really owe the time I've spent on the county board to Bill," Inman said. "He always been one of the top community leaders in this area."

Inman also sees Kurtz as somewhat of a fading breed, a small business owner who spent considerable time away from his job to get involved in civic affairs.

"Bill's kind of the last of that regime," Inman said. "You don't see the business owners like Bill today as involved in the political process."

Kurtz's last local government stint proved to be his most difficult. He served as a trustee in Acme Township from 1996-2000, and won the supervisor's race in 2004 as heated debate over proposed developments along M-72, including a new Meijer store, enmeshed township politics. He and other board members were targeted in a recall effort later found to be secretly -- and illegally -- funded by Meijer.

Kurtz and the board survived recall, but ongoing legal battles with Meijer and others wore him down. He believed he'd become a lighting rod for the township and left office last summer.

"I didn't regret resigning at the time, and I think it was in the best interest of the township," he said.

But Kurtz also saw the failed recall as vindication for himself and the board, despite the tens of thousands of dollars spent by outside interests against them.

"I have a lot of respect for the people of Acme Township. I really do," he said.

Kurtz, 63, won't say whether's there's more public service in his future, and has no specific plans for retirement. But old habits are hard to break, and Kurtz said he doesn't plan to vanish from the public eye after being in it for more than 40 years.

"You'll see me around," he said.