by Daniel Olsen
Once a week, we will be highlighting an inductee of the Utah Sports Hall of Fame. This week’s inductee is Jim Laub.
Few Aggie alumni , if any, have contributed to Utah State University as much as Jim Laub. This entrepreneur is responsible for keeping Utah State Athletics on par with other elite programs in terms of facilities. This is his story on how he helped grow his grandfather’s business to make a difference in the Cache Valley Community.
As a boy at Logan High School, Laub enjoyed playing football and baseball. He grew up cheering for the Aggies more than any other team. He would continue that passion when he became a student at the USU and cheered on the great Aggie athletes of yesteryear.
While the exact dollar amount of his contributions to Aggie Athletics are unknown, it is known that he helped fund the $9.7 million dollar Wayne Estes Center. It is a state-of-the-art basketball and volleyball practice facility that allows athletes to practice as well as work on their strength and conditioning.
Cache Valley Electric, the family business which Laub is currently the CEO of, prides themselves in being a world class organization specializing in electrical projects. Henry Laub, Jim’s grandpa, always taught his employees to work hard and provide reliable service. This has helped the company succeed as well as Aggie Athletics. If not for the Laub family, the little agricultural college in Logan, Utah would not be the elite athletics school that it is today. They graduate athletes at a high level and have won several conference championships.
Utah State would not be what Utah State is without supporters like him, and without him specifically,” Cache Valley Electric COO Nathan Wickizer told The Herald Journal. “You just can’t do it. You can’t have big-time college athletics without people who are willing to step up time and time again — in good times and bad. And that’s really what loyalty is, is being there through all the ups and downs.”
The next time Aggie fans go to Utah State University, they should take a look at all the athletic facilities. There is a good chance that the Laub family has influenced each sports program and the buildings that keep them running in one way or another.
Featured image via Herald Journal.