The Excelsior Rotary Foundation Board of Directors Meeting Minutes of March 22, 2012
The meeting of the Excelsior Rotary Foundation Board of Directors of March 22, 2012 was called to order by Chairman Don Draayer. Trustees present were: Don Draayer, Dean Friesen, Steve Frazier, Dave Peterka and Carl Zinn. No trustees were absent.
Also in attendance (for varying times through out the meeting) were Tim Litfin, President Elect of the Rotary Club of Excelsior and Ann M. Wengronowitz, CFP and partner in North Star Resource Group.
The following Action Items were reviewed and approved:
1. The agenda for the 03.22.12 meeting was reviewed and accepted with no changes.
The Secretary’s Report of the minutes for the March 1, 2012 meeting was presented by Acting Secretary Steve Frazier for approval. It was moved by Carl Zinn and seconded by Dean Friesen to approve the minutes as presented. The motion carried unanimously.
There was no Treasurer’s Report presented for approval.
Prior to getting into the routine agenda items of our meeting, Don Draayer invited Tim Litfin, President Elect of the Rotary Club of Excelsior for the Rotary year 07.01.12 – 06.30.13 for a “Get Acquainted Session” with our Board of Trustees. Don did this because it is very important that communication moves freely between the President of the Rotary Club of Excelsior (and his Board of Directors) and the Excelsior Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees. The workings of each are very much inter-connected. That said, Tim shared several areas he intends to focus his efforts next year, including more Rotarian interaction with one another, a focus on younger membership, the creation of a “signature event” to draw attention to our club in the community, and the need to address the dues structure for membership in our club. Further, our board communicated to Tim the importance of submitting their annual budget and anticipated donations to be funded by through the foundation. All Trustees were encouraged and impressed with Tim’s organized and well thought out approach to his term as president.
Our Board of Trustees looks forward to a smooth transition and a great working relationship with Tim and his board next year.
Old Business:
The primary goal for this meeting was to draw conclusion to the series of meetings, interviews, and conversations with perspective investment advisors to ultimately select an advisor to help our Foundation manage its funds. It should be noted that over the last few months, this board interviewed the following candidates for this engagement:
- Rebecca Hopf, AWMA, Investment Counselor, Waddell & Reed Financial Advisors
- John Hinz, CLU, ChFC Financial Advisor, Lang, Hinz, & Associates
- Ann M. Wengronowitz, CFP and Partner, North Star Resource Group
That said, Ann M. Wengronowitz was invited to this meeting to be formally elected as our Investment Advisor. It was moved by Don Draayer and seconded by Dave Peterka to approve the election of Ann M. Wengronowitz, CFP and Partner, North Star Resource Group as the Investment Advisor for the Excelsior Rotary Foundation. The motion carried unanimously.
Following that election, Ann helped our Board of Trustees with Draft #6 of our proposed investment policy. A thorough and careful review (word by word – line by line) of this proposed investment policy statement followed. We focused on the purpose, goals, allocations, diversification, allowable/prohibited assets and transactions, distributions, and expectations of the investment advisor. Several changes were recommended by Ann as well as all Trustees. Draft #7 will be delivered by e-mail to all by President Don Draayer for further review.
New Business: None
Adjournment:
No date has been set for the next meeting of the Excelsior Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees.
There being no further business, it was moved by Steve Frazier and seconded by Dave Peterka to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dave Peterka,
Secretary
Rotary Foundation Board of Trustees