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Chamber of Commerce gets a new president photo by Steve Johnson Answer Page owner Bill Anderberg is ready to do some heavy lifting By John Darling MEDFORD � If Chamber of Commerce members ever need some heavy lifting done, they�ll likely call on Bill Anderberg. He�s not only their new president and owner of Answer Page, but he holds the Oregon powerlifting records in bench press, dead lift and squat lift. At tonight�s annual Chamber awards banquet, Anderberg will receive the president�s gavel from outgoing president and Avista General Manager Scott Morris. Anderberg served several turns as vice president of the 1,200-member Chamber of Medford/Jackson County and led competitive recruitment drives in which he brought in about 200 members, said Brad Hicks, head of the Chamber. "I�ve worked with Bill now for seven years and talked up his qualifications many times," Hicks said. "There won�t be any learning curve. We�ll hit the ground running." Anderberg�s first goals as president are to increase awareness of Chamber services and expand the membership list by a fourth, to 1,500, in the next year, he said. The Chamber also will take a leadership role in developing the infrastructure � especially transportation and telecommunications � of this fast-growing region, he said. Support teams will be developed to help retain businesses and to promote communication, support more training programs at local colleges and take an active role in environmental issues, such as air and water quality and endangered species. The state Legislature will be in session during Anderberg�s tenure, and much Chamber effort will go toward getting funding for improved infrastructure, Anderberg said. "We�ve been using up the infrastructure that Medford leaders built in the 1940s and 1950s. We�re seeing tremendous change. I�ve lived in Orange County (Calif.) and Silicon Valley and it�s almost scary what growth can happen. We�re on the verge of that here. But right now, a person has a chance to be involved in the process of what it�s going to look like here in 10 or 15 years," Anderberg said. Hicks added, "Someone�s got to step up to the plate and get these things in place. No one wants to pay for this stuff, but we have to ask ourselves, how much do we want to saddle our children and grandchildren with the problem?" Anderberg, 50, is a South Dakota native raised in Southern California. He got a political science degree from Long Beach State University and opened his first business, Intrastate Radio and Telephone, an answering service, at age 22. Anderberg and his family � wife Jackie and daughters Lauren, 20, and Dene, 13 � moved here in 1986 from the San Francisco Bay Area after selling his company. Anderberg said he wanted to "kick back and relax for a year," but soon was setting up another company, Answer Page, in 1988. He started from scratch here and now has 50 employees, a 30 percent growth rate, offices in Grants Pass and Klamath Falls and $2.3 million in revenues. Another office is planned in Bend. The firm offers answering services, voice mail, two-way radio telephone services, 800-number answering and order taking, as well as paging in six Western states. "Maybe I�ve never been lucky enough to be the fastest, smartest or strongest, but I do pride myself in my strong commitment to the task," said Anderberg. "There is very little traffic in that last mile and that�s the mile I�ve tried to dedicate myself to with 110 percent effort." His community activities here have included: Red Cross board of directors, president and board member of Rogue Valley Professional Association, president of Rogue Riders, president and board member of Hearts and Vines, board member of Community Works, president of Central Point Rotary and active member in March of Dimes and American Heart Association. Anderberg is a "fiercely competitive" horseman and powerlifter. He took the cup for the Western States 100, a Squaw Valley-to-Auburn (Calif.) journey which is considered the world�s toughest 100-mile horse ride, he said. In November, Anderberg hopes to take the world record in his age and weight group for powerlifting in Reno, Nev. He can bench press 330 pounds, squat lift 540 and dead lift 560, the latter being only 44 pounds short of the world record in his class. He works out during his lunch hour four days a week and "enjoys overcoming those fears" about handling so much steel. "That kind of weight can really hurt you. Heck, it can kill you," he said. Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA