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Terry Emmert | |
|---|---|
 Emmert (left) with former Oregon GovernorVic Atiyeh (center) | |
| Born | Terry W. Emmert |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Central Catholic High School |
| Occupations |
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Terry W. Emmert is an American businessman, entrepreneur andsports franchise owner fromClackamas, Oregon, a suburb ofPortland. He is the founder and owner ofEmmert International, an engineering and transport service company, theInternational Basketball League'sPortland Chinooks and thePortland Thunder professionalArena Football League team. He has two children, Terry Michael Emmert, who is vice president of Emmert International, and Christine Vessey, the vice president of Multrec Corporation.[1]
He is a 1962 graduate ofCentral Catholic High School.
Emmert's company,Emmert International, is an asset-based engineered transport, rigging, and structural relocation service company based out ofClackamas, Oregon. The company specializes in the most massive and heavy-hauling and rigging projects in the world moving everything from houses to airplane engines.[2]
An avid sports fan, Emmert began dabbling in the world of professional sports. In 2002, he and his close friend formerPortland Trail Blazers legendClyde Drexler worked on finalizing a deal to purchase thePortland Fire of theWNBA after that franchise had three bad seasons under the ownership of then (and current) Blazers ownerPaul Allen. Unfortunately, Drexler, Emmert and the WNBA could not come to a deal to finalize the sale of the franchise and it eventually folded.
Emmert was the principal owner of thePortland Chinooks of theInternational Basketball League. He bought the team due in part to his problems with theABA'sPortland Reign, yet did not escape problems with the Chinooks in his attempt to bring minor league hoops to Portland. His choice to have home games played at Portland's Eastmoreland Racquet Club created a furor among members, and forced the Chinooks to find a new venue for the team's second season (this decision was also influenced by the need for a larger venue).
In 2013, Emmert finalized a deal with theArena Football League to purchase the franchise rights to theMilwaukee Mustangs team and relocate them to Portland. The deal was finalized and the team became thePortland Thunder and began play at theModa Center on March 17, 2014 against theSan Jose SaberCats (televised onCBS Sports Network). Emmert's franchise is the second AFL team to play in Portland after the now-defunctPortland Forest Dragons. His team made the playoffs twice with 5–13 records, yet fired its coaches in each of the first two seasons.
On January 6, 2016, the AFL announced that it had taken over operations of the Thunder from Emmert.[3] He told thePortland Tribune newspaper that the future of the team was up in the air because he was concerned with the league's medical insurance policies and was hoping to try to attract more investors to help fund the team.[4] This prompted league officials and the board of directors to take control of the franchise and look for new owners.[5] However, Emmert had trademarked all logos, the colors and the "Thunder" name, similar to whatDallas Cowboys ownerJerry Jones had done with theDallas Desperados. Thus the AFL had no alternative but to create a new franchise with a new identity.[6] His former franchise would soon be rebranded thePortland Steel under the league's ownership. The Steel folded in October 2016.
This may open the door for Emmert to take his identity to another league, likely theIndoor Football League much like former AFL/af2 teams in the past such as theGreen Bay Blizzard,Tri-Cities Fever,Iowa Barnstormers andSpokane Shock. (The Shock would later become theSpokane Empire due to trademark issues with the AFL's Shock identity.) This was onlyif the previous Portland AFL franchise folded after the 2016 season or beyond, which never happened.
The currentArena Football One franchise, theOregon Lightning, were rumored to have paid partial tribute to Emmert's former Thunder team by rebranding their team previously known as the Oregon High Desert Storm to the "Lightning".
Emmert has owned a 33,800 square feet (3,140 m2) plot of land inPortland's Cully neighborhood since 1985. He tore down the occupied buildings in 2008 and began construction on an apartment building. The construction was abandoned, leaving a partially-constructed apartment building, described byWillamette Week as looking like "the movie set of a ghost town in a post-apocalyptic film".[7]
the movie set of a ghost town in a post-apocalyptic film