A lot more things than just chicken and tri-tip get cookin’ at Morgan Hill businessman Mike Cox’s backyard barbecues. The owner of locally-based Anaerobe Solutions gets the right people mingling together in a fun, friendly atmosphere, so fundraising can be ignited for many local causes.
That’s why Leadership Morgan Hill has bestowed Cox with its 2013 Leadership Excellence Award, which will be presented to Cox a July 27 tribute dinner at Guglielmo winery in Morgan Hill.
“It’s quite an honor,” said Cox, a microbiologist whose unique business, located at 15902 Concord Circle, ships oxygen-free environments such as chambers and tubes to companies, hospitals and research centers all over the world. “My wife and I both believe you build stronger community through these sort of interactions.”
Cox, 68, along with his wife Mary, have been hosting and fully financing the grub and entertainment for local fundraisers over the years, including events for the Morgan Hill Library, the Morgan Hill Community Foundation and the Independence Day Celebrations nonprofit committee. For the past eight years, Cox has also sponsored the Morgan Hill Youth Leadership program and holds the graduation ceremony at his house in southwest Morgan Hill.
“He’s a fantastically successful businessman who’s also very supportive of the community,” said Morgan Hill Mayor Steve Tate, also a member of Leadership Morgan Hill. “From my standpoint, he’s just a fantastic community builder. He gets people together around a common cause. He does it by just being a fantastic host.”
Cox, a native of Houston, Texas, has lived in Morgan Hill for 16 years and is a 2005 graduate of the Leadership Morgan Hill program. He founded Anaerobe Systems about 35 years ago and remains the company’s Chief Executive Officer.
“He is a very caring, giving person,” said Roger Knopf, the inaugural recipient of the Leadership Excellence Award in 2003 who, along with Cox, is also a member of the Morgan Hill Rotary Club.
“If you spoke with any of the 115 (Rotarians), there wouldn’t be a member of the club who wouldn’t know and love Mike,” Knopf added. “He just cares. He’s interested in everything. He’s a constant learner.”
Every member of Leadership Morgan Hill learns community leadership skills through a nine-month, 115-hour in-depth training program, which runs from January to September. Each year, participants learn a variety of skills, including how the city operates, how law enforcement operates, the social infrastructure of a community, time management skills, and just about everything that goes along with economic development. The group also takes a trip to Sacramento to tour the state government.
“People who give of themselves end up receiving more,” said Knopf.
Past recipients include the Guglielmo brothers, George, Gene and Gary (2004), Michael Rubino (2005), Dennis Kennedy (2007), Sherry Hemingway (2008), Mike Johnson (2011), and Rosy Bergin (2012).
