Jul 29

Written by: ngreditor
7/29/2008 4:02 PM 

Community Foundation Holds Annual Meeting

Pam King

Over 40 friends and supporters came together for an evening of community fellowship at the annual meeting of the Newman Grove Community Foundation on July 22. Prior to the meeting, members of the Fund Advisory Committee served a complimentary meal of grilled hamburgers and Shell Creek Valley bratwurst to those in attendance.

The Newman Grove Community Foundation’s Fund Advisory Committee. Back row: (L-R) Dennis McCloud, Randy Benson, and Gene Wissenburg. Front row: (L-R) Zane Wondercheck, Paul Cederlind, Pam King, Jeff Gerhart, and Brad Cox. Not pictured: Ray Herbert.

Gene Wissenburg, President of the Fund Advisory Committee, extended a welcome and stated that the purpose of the meeting was to celebrate our community and the good things the Foundation is doing. Wissenburg and Randy Benson reviewed the past year of Community Foundation activities. Accomplishments included assisting the City of Newman Grove in reinstating its membership in the Elkhorn Valley Economic Development Council and partnering with the Bluejay Foundation to award a $1,000 scholarship based on work ethic and career goals. Goals established by the Fund Advisory Committee include supporting entrepreneurship activities and raising $100,000 for the endowment fund.

Pam King read the minutes of the 2007 annual meeting and Brad Cox gave the financial report with a balance of $4,532.52 in the General Fund and $7,266.34 in the Endowment Fund.

Ray Herbert presented the membership report. He reported on the various levels of giving, from lifetime memberships to annual memberships and occasional donors.

Jeffery Peetz gave a presentation on building a community endowment. Peetz is an attorney in Lincoln and Newman Grove and also serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Lincoln Community Foundation. He provided information compiled by the Nebraska Community Foundation on the anticipated amount of wealth to be transferred in Nebraska between the years of 2000 to 2050. Madison County will see a transfer of $6 billion in assets, and Platte County and Boone County will each see transfers of $5.3 billion and $777 million, respectively. He expressed the importance of capturing 5% of this wealth and keeping it invested for the benefit of our local community. He gave examples of other Nebraska community endowments and the financial benefits being realized by their small towns. Peetz stated he has secured pledges of $37,000 for the endowment fund with the intention of reaching $50,000. The local community would then match these pledges. He challenged the Fund Advisory Committee to raise their endowment fund goal to $150,000.

Randy Benson introduced Hector Arreguin and his wife, Janett Cardona Arreguin, as new entrepreneurs in the community. Janett creates edible fruit arrangements and floral arrangements. She showed an example of one of her fruit arrangements. She is currently working out of her home and is looking for a place in town to locate her business.

Doris Lux gave a presentation on entrepreneurship. Lux is the business instructor at Central Community College in Columbus and also serves as Director of the Entrepreneur Center there. She stressed the importance of introducing children to entrepreneurship at a young age if we expect them to stay or return to our small communities when they grow up. She explained the entrepreneur programs she conducts for area middle school and high school students. The students learn how to design and market a product and put together a business plan. The high school students have access to the donated services of attorneys, accountants, insurance agents, bankers and other entrepreneurs in assisting with their business plans. Lux also conducts an entrepreneurship workshop for adults wanting to start a new business and an incubator program that provides mentoring and networking for existing businesses on a one-toone basis.

Gene Wissenburg introduced retiring Fund Advisory Committee members, Brad Cox, Jeff Gerhart and Ray Herbert and thanked them for their years of service. New members elected to serve a three-year term ending in July 2011 were Tim Rossow and Hector Arreguin. No one accepted the nomination for the remaining vacancy so the Fund Advisory Committee will need to elect a third member.

Georgianne Gerhart won the drawing for the Husker tailgate barbeque grill and Dean King won the edible floral arrangement. Root beer floats were served.