President Katie Dukeshire opened the meeting. Steve Carter gave the invocation and led the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Carolyn Rhode served as secretary.
Guests and Visitors
- Dick Fisher from the Burlington Rotary club was in attendance.
- Micah Fox introduced Joan and Roger from the American Legion. They will be starting a new Legion in Graham and would be interested in speaking to our club in the future.
General Announcements
-
Baseball Game: The Area Three Family of Rotary baseball game is this Thursday at Burlington Memorial Stadium.
-
Canoe and Kayak Outing: Sign up sheets for the Haw River event were on the tables. Two dates are available to chose from. The cost will be $35 per person or $55 for two people.
Upcoming Programs
- August 11 – Dick O’Donnell and Tripp Hilliard: Rotary Update on Fundraising
- August 18 – Bonnie Whitaker: Tanya Jisa & Abby Goodman, Benevolence Farm
- August 25 – Joseph Williams:
Happy Clams
- None this week
Program: Alamance County’s Economic Development Foundation Update
Mac Williams has served as the President of the Alamance County Chamber of Commerce for the past 11 years and updated our club on the progress of Alamance County’s Economic Development Foundation. In 2011, Alamance County voted to continue the foundation for a minimum of five more years. They held a fundraiser and set goals for the next five years which included adding 1500 jobs and $250M in capital investment to Alamance County. In 2015 (year 4 of the plan), the foundation has already exceeded goal with the addition of over 2000 jobs and more than $300M in capital investment. Two of the bigger successes for the foundation have included the Wal-Mart distribution center and the new German grocerer, Lidl. Lidl is the largest grocery chain in Germany and is looking to expand in the US. Lidl is a competitor of Aldi. Lidl will be bringing a distribution center/office to Alamance County.
Despite the foundation’s success, challenges still exist. First, the labor market gets tight with the addition of more jobs. We are lucky to be able to pull workers from the bigger cities around us not just from Alamance County. One selling point for the foundation is to focus “between the airports” for workers. Another challenge is at the state of NC level as they decide whether to keep the incentive packages. Currently, NC grants employee tax money back to the company. NC Legislators are deciding whether to renew this benefit for companies moving to Alamance County.
Dick Fisher thanked Alamance Community College for their role in providing the training needed to provide workers for the new companies.
Card Drawing
Peter Barcus’ table held the winning ticket but he failed to pull the winning card. The jackpot continues to grow. There are now only 40 cards stand between you, the jack of hearts, and the pot. Your odds are getting better every week.
Closing
As is our custom, we all stood to recite the Rotary Four Way Test, which was led by President Dukeshire, who afterward adjourned the meeting. Until next week…
Club Related Dates
District and Club Business
Thursday, August 6, 6 pm: Area 3 Family Outing at the Burlington Royals Baseball Game
2nd Tuesday of Each Month: Board Meeting for officers and committee chairs, 11 am until Noon.
September 15, 2015: District Governor’s Visit
September 29, 2015: Club Assembly
Birthdays and Anniversaries
Aug | Birthdays | Aug | Wedding Anniversaries |
5 | Steve Carter | 2 | Ed & Danielle Woodall |
6 | Mike Dunning | 8 | Charles & Mary Helen Cobb |
23 | Jeffrey Smythe | 10 | Dan & Lori Seiler |
24 | Sam & Lauren Holt | ||
29 | Mac & Stephanie Williams |