At a recent meeting, the Branch County Community Foundation approved a new slate of Board officers and introduced a new board member. For 2011 – 2012 Mary Jo Kranz, of Quincy is the new board president, with Dave Wright of Coldwater the Vice-President. Continuing in his job as secretary of the Community Foundation Board is Ted Gordon of Coldwater. Newly elected Board officers are Jay Carlson, of Coldwater as Treasurer and Wayne Reese of Coldwater as an additional member of the Executive committee.

Joe Chase, of Coldwater is the newly appointed board member. He is the sales and marketing manager at Nex Solutions, a custom steel fabricator in Litchfield. Joe has been involved with the Hometown Competitiveness initiative and organized an entrepreneurial expo for Branch County in 2008. In addition to his sales and marketing experience, Joe also brings small business and finance experience to the Board. He is eager to support his community and make Branch County a better place to live.

Other board members are; Hillary Eley and Dale Norton of Bronson, Bruce Bloom, Chuck Lillis, Remus Rigg, and Connie Winbigler of Coldwater, Kim Morgan of Colon, Ron Rose of Litchfield and Rachel Hard of Quincy. To qualify as a board member an individual must first be a Community Foundation donor; willing to serve a 3 year term, renewable up to 3 times; and available for quarterly meetings.

The Branch County Community Foundation is a non-profit organization and a nationally accredited and state-certified community grant making foundation. The Foundation serves communities in Branch County and Colon, Michigan by supporting charitable giving, building permanent endowments, and connecting community resources.

Requests for more information regarding a seat on the Community Foundation’s Board of Directors may be forwarded to Executive Director, Colleen Knight at 517.278.4517, email colleen@brcofoundation.org or found on the web at www.brcofoundation.org.