Festival City Rotary Newsletter October 23, 2012
by Spandler, Louise
The Rotary Club Of Festival City
President: Dianne Yundt
Minutes of the meeting of October 23, 2012
Club email: festivalcityrotary@gmail.com
Club website: www.festivalcityrotary.ca
Guests: Bob Martin and Geza Wordofa from Stratford Rotary, Randy Matthews; Leticia Figueiredo our Rotary exchange student; and Nigel Howard the guest speaker and Joani Gerber as his technical support person.
Draw Prize: Linda Jones won the prize donated by Wayne Young
Announcements:
- Membership Workshop: Deb attended the membership workshop in London, she shared the following highlights:- Our club had the highest number of representatives in attendance; the percentage of females in Rotary is 16%, but our club is 50% female. Clubs are encouraged to grow in members each year at the rate of 3%- for our club that means 2 per year. Clubs use a variety of means to attract new members such as having Saturday A.M. meetings and providing day care to attract younger members.
- Rotary Leadership Institute: The next training session, all 3 levels, is in Stratford on Nov 17. See President Dianne for details.
- Stratford Basketeers: Donna Hinz announced this year’s campaign to raise funds to fill baskets for women who are trying to start a new life. Any donations will be gratefully accepted over the next few weeks.
- Dinner of the Month Tickets: Tickets for the 2013 draws are available for sale. Get your tickets from Tyler Canal. The price is the same as this year. $20 each or 6 for $100. Please let Tyler know how many tickets are sold. Tickets will not be sold in the New Year.
- Christmas Party: All are invited to attend a Christmas Party on Monday Dec 17 at 7pm at the Queen’s Inn. There will be an open bar, snacks will be provided. Please sign the sheet being passed around at the next few meetings if you would like to attend. Significant Others are also invited. Cost: $10.00 per person. Please wear a Christmas hat or sweater (the tackier the better). There will be no meeting Tues. Dec 18.
- Linda Jones shared the report given to th Board regarding El Salvador. She told us that of 5 RI grants 3 have been accepted and 2 are outstanding. CRCID grantsis up to date with one more disbursement of $20,000 due, which we hope to qualify for later this month. All money needs to be spant by Dec.31 2012: final reports completed by March 31 2013 and reviewed and approved by June 2013. All sponsors have been notified that this is the final year of our 5 year commitment - but they are still able to continue their support of individual children if they wish to do so. They were also told of all of the benefits their support has provided in the areas of education, health and nutrition.
Guest Speaker: Barb introduced Nigel Howard and Joani Gerber of the Stratford Centre for Business and the Perth Community Futures Develpment Corporation.
Nigel outlined the roles that both the Centre for Business and the Community Futures agencies play in our area. Free one -on-one consulting is provided for start up businesses and existing companies inthe areas of: business plan reviews; marketing advice; social media advice/ assistance; cash flow assistance and community connections.
Workshops and networking opportunies are provided through training events such as 'Lunch and Learn' workshops and monthly networking breakfasts.
Loan funding is provided to businesses that may been turned down for loans by Banks because they are considered to be high risk ventures (i.e. loans are unsecured). Funds loaned may be as little as $5,000 or as much as $150,000. A new company in Listowel recently was approved for a $250,000 loan because of the construction jobs it will provide as well as the 20 to 30 employees it hopes to hire once construction is completed. Loans are often sought for business needs such as website development, value added agriculture, 'green' projects, tools and office equipment and to add inventory.
Nigel and Joani may be contacted by phone or email-
info@stratfordperthbusiness.ca 1-866-814-7570 or joani@perthcfdc.ca 1-855-814-7570
Nigel and Joani were thanked by Anna Sherwin