Weekly Club Newsletter - 9/4/2013
Meeting Recap
Greetings fellow Rotarians! Today’s speaker was Bill Stenger, CEO of Jay Peak Resort and one of the architects of the Northeast Kingdom EB-5 economic development initiative. Almost two years ago, Mr. Stenger started an initiative to secure investors for projects in the Northeast Kingdom. To date, those efforts have landed investments of $275 million from investors from 74 different countries. This money has helped fund the creation of the golf course, an indoor waterpark and the Ice Haus skating facility, all of which have allowed Jay Peak to increase its workforce to 1,200 during the winter months and 400 during the summer. Jay Peak is not the only beneficiary of these efforts, however. The combination of the investment money and a newly-created Free Trade Zone, has helped attract manufacturing plants to Newport and the surrounding areas which will ultimately create many new jobs for the region. Mr. Stenger reported that as successful as they have been at securing these funds, they are not done yet. His hope is to eventually bring in a total of $800 million in total investments to the region.
Essex Rotary Corn Booth
Another season of selling corn is in the books! We are still waiting for some final bills to arrive, but committee Co-Chair, Ray Allaire reported that he expects this year’s event will net close to $3,300.00. Considering we had to purchase the corn this year and that attendance numbers at the fair were not as high as expected, it is quite remarkable that we were able to realize a profit margin of that magnitude. The success of this year’s event was truly attributable to the many hours of hard work spent by the Corn Booth Committee and the many Rotarians, friends and family members. Thank you again to everyone who pitched in!
District 7850 Benefit Concert
District 7850 is sponsoring a concert by clarinet player, Pietro Tagliaferri and pianist Francesco Attesti. Their performance will feature the works of Saint-Saens, Risinni, Verdi, Landini, Liszt and Poulenc. The concert will start at 7:00pm on Tuesday, September 24th at the McCarthy Arts Center at St. Michael’s College. Tickets are $20.00 for adults and $15.00 for students/children. All proceeds from this event will be donated to assist the victims of the recent tragedy in Lac Megantic, Quebec. Tickets may be ordered at www.flynntix.org . This is a great opportunity to not only listen to some amazing music but to assist some individuals who are in dire need of aid.
Upcoming Meeting Schedule: Wednesday, September 11th – Our speaker will be Alan Karnatz from the Vermont Land Trust.
For the complete list of upcoming speakers and general information about the Club, please go to our website at www.essexrotary.org Be sure to also check out our Club’s Facebook page!
Yours in Rotary,
Jason Ruwet