“That means he has wanted to see this industry mature into a solid, strong, mainstream industry as rapidly as possible,” he says. “Therefore, he always ran his own clubs in the most professional manner possible in terms of staffing, training, facility upkeep. His clubs have always been impeccable in the way they look and the way people are treated. He set a high standard early in the industry, which set the baseline for what is considered a first-class health club. There is no one in the industry who hasn't been affected by him directly or indirectly in terms of setting standards.”

Schwartz also improved the professionalism of the industry by being one of the primary forces in establishing accounting standards in the industry, McCarthy says. With these standards, club owners can now keep their books the same way, which makes it easier for bankers to determine how well clubs are doing.

Bankers, investors and the industry have also been helped by Schwartz's push for IHRSA to provide research that would document in a real way the growth and development of the industry, starting with the Profiles of Success survey that he originated.

“Without these kinds of research and accounting procedures, the industry has no credibility with third parties,” McCarthy says.

Personally and professionally, Schwartz also displayed the highest ethical standards, even though he entered the industry at a time when the industry was notorious for having poor ethical standards, McCarthy says.

“He set the standards and said we are not going to be that kind of an industry. We are going to be ethical,” McCarthy says. “People rallied behind him. As a result, an entire ethical industry sprung up.”

Rick Caro, president of Management Vision, a New York-based consulting company for the fitness industry, first met Schwartz in 1973 when Schwartz was a presenter at the NITA convention.

“He came across as someone who was very knowledgeable and a sharer, so I introduced myself, and we started a business and a personal friendship,” says Caro, who was the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award winner. “I admired him early on for his attitude of sharing and his ability to really articulate his concepts in a way that people who were less knowledgeable than he would be able to understand. So in a way he was an early teacher for the industry and had creative ideas that he shared with the industry in general.”

Schwartz also showed the industry that a number of ways exist to structure deals, Caro says. Schwartz owned clubs with his family resources but also brought in investors. In other cases, he joint partnered with fellow club owners in different markets, which allowed his company to grow beyond Chicago.

Learning and teaching have always been important to Schwartz.

“There was a great emphasis on education by my family and athletics and the values you get from athletics — learning how to win and lose,” he says.

Not only did he help write the first curriculum for fitness professionals for a university program, but he also created a training facility for his employees. That program took off under Steven Schwartz and TCA's former COO, Doug Cash.

“That is in keeping with our philosophy of advancing everyone professionally, from the janitor to the baby-sitter on up,” Alan Schwartz says.

The company backs up the commitment with cash through a professional-development account in which employees can invest 1 percent of their wages. The company doubles that amount on the condition that the money is spent to develop the employees' professionalism in some way.

Schwartz also is involved in education by serving on the board of Duke University's business school and on the board of Roosevelt University in Chicago.

“At one time, I think he thought he might be a professor,” Steven Schwartz says. “I just don't think there's enough action in it. He's not geared to be a good coach. He's a player.”

Family Ties

Despite all of his commitment to work, tennis, education, real estate and volunteerism, Alan Schwartz hasn't lost sight of putting his family first, says Lee Hamilton, COO of the USTA. Schwartz has been married to his wife, Ronnie, for 49 years. Several of his four children and his grandchildren live near him, so he has time to connect with them.

“You have to work at these things,” Hamilton says. “It's a matter of time management. So many people will leave this planet wishing they had involved themselves more intimately with family, but Alan and Ronnie shouldn't have that.”

Steven Schwartz also marvels at his father's ability to weave a busy work and volunteer life with family.

“Whether it was the real estate business or Midtown, that's what we talked about at dinner,” he says. “At a very early age, I remember helping my dad color early tax maps to evaluate property. I remember spending all day in the car as he drove around and looked at properties.”

But Steven Schwartz didn't mind, and he says his siblings didn't, either. It was just part of being a member of the Schwartz family and living with a father who he calls “a larger-than-life character.”

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© 2012 Penton Media Inc.