Affiliation Agreement Update - The committee reviewed the standard affiliation agreement provided by the Nebraska Community Foundation. Randy explained that this is a fluid document and the decisions made at this point can be changed at any time in the future. He then pointed out several sections of interest for discussion.
The first section was the statement of fund purpose. The original statement of fund purpose was “This Fund is established to acquire gifts for the endowment fund principal and/or for non-permanent project/program funds, to assure prudent investment and management of gifted assets, and to establish a procedure for disbursement of endowment income and other gifted assets in accordance with Organization objectives for the Fund and IRS regulations.”
The suggestion was made to insert FutureForce’s mission statement. The suggestion was made to broaden the scope of the statement to include grants, donations and other types of monies.
The final statement of fund purpose is:
“This Fund is established to acquire gifts, donations and grants for the endowment fund principal and/or for non-permanent project/program funds, to assure prudent investment and management of gifted, donated and granted assets, and to establish a procedure for disbursement of endowment income and other gifted, donated, and granted assets in accordance with Organization objectives for the Fund and IRS regulations. The mission of FutureForce Nebraska is to facilitate effective collaboration among employers, education, economic and workforce development resources to support a well educated, highly skilled workforce for Nebraska.”
The second section reviewed was Attachment B, the fund advisory committee. The purpose of the fund advisory committee is to monitor the fund to ensure expenditures are appropriate. It would report to the Executive Board.
Randy observed that there are no official Bylaws for FutureForce Nebraska though he did come across a draft version from 2004. Two officers were identified in that draft, a chair person and vice chair person. Randy suggested the fund advisory committee consist of the Executive Director and FutureForce’s Chair and Vice Chair. The Executive Board agreed however the observation was made that representation on the fund advisory committee should be broad enough to reflect the make up of the Executive Board.
As there is currently no Vice Chair appointed, Rich asked for volunteers. Joe Rowson volunteered to act as Vice Chair. The initial fund advisory committee will consist of Chairperson Rich Katt, Vice Chairperson Joe Rowson, and FutureForce Executive Director Randy Vlasin.
The next question for discussion was the selection of individuals authorized to sign checks and sign contracts on behalf of FutureForce Nebraska.
Randy proposed the following:
Required for expenses less than $5,000 – one signature, Randy or Trish
Required for expenses greater than $5,000 – two signatures, Randy or Trish and Rich
The Executive Board agreed.
There was discussion about how often the fund advisory committee should review disbursements and how often reports should be requested from the Nebraska Community Foundation. The decision was made to request monthly reports, at least initially.
Randy noted that another conference call will be scheduled sometime after June 4 to discuss formal Bylaws.
The next step in the affiliation process will be to sign the agreement.
Multi-State Career Connections Collaboration – Dean Folkers from the Department of Education along with representatives from the Nebraska Departments of Labor and Economic Development met with Emily DeRocco, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training to discuss the possibility of setting up a regional career connections site that would include Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas. Secretary DeRocco was very excited by the possibilities and indicated she would consider awarding a grant of ten to fifteen million dollars to fund such an initiative if a proposal was forthcoming by the end of May.
Representatives from each of the four states met in Kansas City to discuss the project. Because of the anticipated affiliation with the Nebraska Community Foundation and the Foundation’s prior experience with multi-state compacts, FutureForce Nebraska is being considered as the administrator of the quad-state funds.
Through the project, each state would have the opportunity to enter state-specific career and education data into the career connections site and that data would be cross referenced and made available to career seekers in all four states. This project opens exciting possibilities into the realm of regional development in the Midwest.
