Peter Hitch Named 2019 Person of the Year

The Greater Wayzata Area Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce Peter Hitch as the 2019 Person of the Year. Considerations for the award include a member who is an active participant and supporter of Chamber activities, a long-standing contributor to the economic, civic, commercial, and educational interests of the greater Wayzata area and someone who makes a difference to the community. 2019 marks the 53rd Person of the Year celebration.

Peter has brought nothing but passion to his 40-plus year business career in corporate law, intermodal transportation, sports technology, food, computer businesses and property management. Peter is the 14-year owner and president of Data Doctors in Wayzata. His interest in IT became the basis for assisting small businesses and individuals with the whole range of computer, networking and technology issues. With a motto of “there’s plenty of time between midnight and 6:00 am,” it’s been his volunteering that has brought him the biggest rewards. Sports with his wife, Wendy, and two athletic daughters turned into youth sports coaching: skiing, soccer, golf and platform tennis. Somehow there was time for more.

Believing in “learning by doing,” Peter joined the team that launched the Minnesota Children’s Museum in 1978, helping it grow into ever-evolving educational experience and a national institution.  In the 1980s and ‘90s, Peter helped the YMCA Camp Warren Board bring its mission of building integrity, self-reliance, and leadership for boys to separate single gender camping for girls, too. “Warren is simply life-changing,” he says

A member of the Greater Wayzata Chamber of Commerce for the past 15 years (Board Chair in 2014 and 2015), he helped develop the Chamber’s current Vision Statement and Five Year Strategic Plan for 2015-2020.