Parkersburg, WV - Nearly 200 people gathered Friday afternoon as the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation launched it's 49th year of service. The theme was “Fast Forward: Leading with Our Hearts.” The Foundation is headquartered in Parkersburg, but als includes regional affiliates of Doddridge, Jackson, Little Kanawha Area, Mason and Ritchie Counties.
     Executive Director Judy Sjostedt anncounced a new program called the "Foundation Civic Leaders Fellowship. The 2012 Program was presented by PACF Executive Director, Judy Sjostedt, who has led the organization since 1999. Sjostedt announced a new program called the “Foundation Civic Leaders Fellowship.” Through a competitive application process, the program will identify a group of college-age students who would benefit from a summer program of paid employment that helps to develop their civic leadership capacities and business and community knowledge. The program goals include: enhancing students’ personal skills and ability to find meaningful employment in our region upon graduation; offering area employers a way to connect with students while they are still in college by hosting a Fellow; and providing a collaborative way for employers, nonprofits and foundations in our area to work together to build our region’s potential workforce for the future.
     Through the process of creating the Foundation’s strategic plan for the next three years, gathering data and vetting information with citizen groups at four regional meetings, the Foundation identified that citizens were greatly concerned about making progress in three key issue areas – Employment (unemployment), Economic Development and Education. Interestingly, Sjostedt noted, the education concern was not that our schools do not graduate students, but rather that our communities cannot retain their educated graduates. Students graduate, and then leave the area due to the inability to find employment locally.
     "So," Sjostedt said, the Foundation decided, “We’re not ‘waiting on the world to change here.’ We’re shifting into fast forward. It appeared there is a very real need for a holistic and integrated approach to support our young people. Thus, this new Fellowship Program will make a direct investment in our next generation. We are fortunate that our organization’s capacity has grown, so we can move forward to directly target some of the issues about which people in our region care. We will do this in a deliberate and collaborative manner. We expect to employ approx. 15 young persons this summer across the region.”
     Sjostedt said, “We’re excited about this new initiative. We encourage college-age students to consider applying and organizations who would like to host a summer Fellow to do likewise, as well as we welcome contributions to help sponsor the program. Student and Host Applications and Guidelines are posted on the Foundation’s website at www.pacfwv.com; application deadline is March 14, 2012. Sjostedt notes that Jim Strader, formerly with Simonton Windows and previously with Wood County Schools, has been hired to direct the program for the Foundation. To learn more about the Foundation or this new program, Sjostedt welcomes inquiries at 304.428.4438 or info@pacfwv.com.

     Also presented were highlights of 2011:

• It awarded $1.8 million in grants, a number including grants to 70 different organizations and scholarships for 276 area students.
• 1,857 persons supported the Foundation.
• The Foundation received $2.1 million in contributions.
• The Foundation operates very efficiently. Operating cost as a percent of net assets is currently 1.24% (its goal is to keep operating costs below 2%).
• The Foundation partnered with several others groups including the McDonough Foundation, Sisters of St. Joseph Charitable      Fund, Ross Foundation, United Way Alliance and the WV Grantmakers to launch an anti-bullying initiative for several counties’ schools.