STELLAR Anticipates a Record Year in 2008; Rapid Growth Necessitates Management Reorganization

Lawrence Traynor named STELLAR President

STELLAR has concluded another successful year of growth in 2007, serving clients throughout the U.S. with designing, testing and funding bold new comprehensive multi-year programs we refer to as Strategic Action Plans (SAP’s).  A SAP is designed to: increase your funding, strengthen and broaden your volunteer leadership base, while elevating both public and private sector support of your organization and making your organization and community more competitive globally.  “Our many past successes for clients have generated a cadre of new STELLAR clients that have already signed on for 2008, making what will be our highest grossing year in the history of the firm, and it’s only January!” said STELLAR Founder and CEO, Terry J. Cusack.

"This rapid growth has caused STELLAR to evolve from an entrepreneurial company, to a Stage II company" “Our growth requires that our management team have an entirely different set of business and operational skills, processes and mindset” Cusack added.

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STELLAR Chosen for National Study/Campaign; Insurance Scholarship Foundation of America
STELLAR President, Lawrence (Laurie) Traynor reports that STELLAR has been selected and retained by Charlotte, North Carolina-based, Insurance Scholarship Foundation of America (ISFA) to implement a national study for insurance education scholarship funding.
The ISFA provides scholarships to college students preparing for a career in the insurance industry, and for men and women currently working in the insurance industry, seeking to improve their insurance career opportunities. Since its formation in 1993, the ISFA has awarded student scholarships to 150 recipients from 37 difference colleges and universities and 251 professional scholarships.  ISFA’s future growth and expansion plans include relocating its national headquarters to Jacksonville, Florida.
During the Feasibility Study phase, STELLAR will work closely with the ISFA staff and Board to develop a multi-year Strategic Action Plan and budget, along with goals and objectives, to be tested nationally primarily among CEO’s of major insurance companies and others  impacted by ISFA’s good work. Upon completion of the interviews, STELLAR will present a written and bound STELLAR Findings Report, along with next step recommendations, including an 18-month campaign plan, provided the Study reveals sufficient support at February’s, ISFA’s annual Board of Directors meeting being held this year in Kansas City, Missouri. To learn more about ISFA, visit their website here.

STELLAR Assists Brand New Illinois Economic Development Org. in Gaining Solid Foundation
After an exhaustive STELLAR Feasibility Study directed by STELLAR EVP, Don Holbrook, DuPageBiz has kicked off the quiet phase of an ambitious $5.5 million STELLAR fundraising effort for an aggressive new County-wide plan and organization to retain, grow and recruit new jobs to this community located just outside of Chicago.  Interestingly, DuPage County was the only county in the Chicagoland area not having an ED or EDC effort, until STELLAR was called in to assist Mike Skarr, the former President and CEO of the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce. “Mike Skarr, along with Tom Cuculic of DuPage County, are the visionaries who deserve 99% of the credit for initiating this important new organization. Those two gentlemen have worked tirelessly on behalf of DuPage County, and with way too little credit," said STELLAR Founder and CEO, Terry J. Cusack.

The DuPage County Board recently approved the hiring of Roger Hopkins to lead the newly formed organization as executive director. Since 1988, Hopkins has served as executive director of the DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation.  Skarr will remain as the vice president of marketing for DuPageBiz. STELLAR is confident that our partnership with DuPageBiz will prove to be a key cornerstone for the county’s economic growth and vitality, as we work in concert with Skarr, Hopkins, Cuculic and others to ensure the organization’s successful launch.

STELLAR Welcomes A New Member to STELLAR Team
STELLAR welcomes Catherine “Cat” Caughey as the new Director of Operations and Finance. Cat manages STELLAR’s Corporate office, providing important support functions to Founder and CEO Terry J. Cusack and the entire STELLAR team, so that they can focus on delivering STELLAR results to STELLAR clients.  Her fifteen years in management and oversight of finances, accounting, legal and regulatory issues provides STELLAR with a strong operational base for the firm, resulting in efficient and productive delivery of services to STELLAR clients.
For full biographies on the strength, depth and expertise of the entire STELLAR Team, please visit our brand new interactive web site by clicking HERE. 

The STELLAR web site has three distinct features that every economic and community development web site should have, these are;

1. Live “Chat” Operator: These folks are trained on our service and work hard to engage visitors and to get contact info for us to do a more in depth follow up call on their needs.
2. “Click-to-Call”: The coolest feature we have, all I can tell you is to try it out for yourself, and I’m sure you’ll agree!
3. “Quick Contact Box” For Type-A people who look at your web site for 5 seconds and decide if your worthy of further investigation. They need only need to fill out three lines, Name, Phone, Email, and hit send!

The firm that created the STELLAR web site and continually monitors and drives our top placement in search engine optimization can help you too with these and other benefits is Interchanges, and their web site can be found at: www.interchanges.com 

Following a Successful Campaign for the Greater Paducah EDC, STELLAR Chosen By Local Nonprofit to Lead Funding Effort
Upon finding sufficient support during the STELLAR Feasibility Study, STELLAR has been chosen to run a large-scale campaign for The River Heritage Museum, in Paducah, KY. Paducah was founded in 1827 by William Clark of Lewis & Clark fame, and the city’s origins and prosperity can be attributed to its strategic location at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee rivers.

The museum is housed in downtown's oldest standing structure and will be expanded with funding from the STELLAR-led fundraising campaign.  The museum is coordinating the expansion with the city’s Riverfront Master Plan and will serve as a cornerstone of an aggressive downtown redevelopment plan led by The Honorable Mayor – William “Bill” F. Paxton, who along with Greater Paducah Economic Development Corporation President Wayne Sterling, are just a few of the Paducah leaders STELLAR Founder and CEO Terry Cusack built strong friendships with while overseeing the GPEDC’s Campaign.  The success of that campaign, which raised $500,000 over the goal of $5 million, was a major reason STELLAR was selected by the River Heritage Museum to conduct their capital campaign.

Campbell County EDO, Wyoming and STELLAR Partner to Exceed All Past Fundraising Campaign Goals!

After just five months into their STELLAR-led campaign, The Campbell County Economic Development Corp. in Gillette, Wyoming has surpassed its goal of raising $2 million for the organization’s five-year Strategic Action Plan program of work.

CCEDC's initiative - with the tagline "POWER. Power to grow. Power to innovate. Power to sustain" - is focused on several goals including economic diversification and sustainability, work-force recruitment and development, investor relations and community education.

The organization expects to secure additional support before it closes out its campaign which was delivered on-time and under-budget by STELLAR.   This is the second five-year initiative for the corporation. More than $1.7 million was raised during the first one, which helped Campbell County recruit much-needed employees by getting the word out to the nation about Gillette's need for qualified workers in various fields ranging from oil fields to coal mines to the hospitality industry.  

Louisiana Economic Develop Development Alliance Gets Campaign “Green Light” Study From STELLAR!

The creation of the brand new Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance (SWLA) was a welcomed action that saw three regional economic development organizations combine resources under a new umbrella coalition to strengthen the business recruiting and retention efforts for Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, and Jeff Davis parishes. The boards of The Chamber SWLA, The Chamber Foundation SWLA, and the Southwest Louisiana Partnership for Economic Development have approved the formation of the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance and will combine the staff and resources of the three groups.

Bill Geringswald	George Swift

The merger eliminates fragmentation and duplication of efforts, making for a stronger overall effort to recruit new investment to the area.  It also rids  the community of “turf wars” and unhealthy competition that serve as a huge red flag to prospects that says “doing business here isn’t going to be easy.”  Realizing that this situation, along with requests of local businesses and governments to fund multiple local organization’s with overlapping efforts needed to change, SWLA President George Swift was charged with pulling the fragmented organizations together.
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STELLAR EVP Holbrook Releases Little Black Book of Economic Development; his second Book in as many months.
STELLAR EVP Don Holbrook has released The Little Black Book of Economic Development. Holbrook’s new book is the latest resource offering from the team of experts at STELLAR.
International Economic Development Council (IEDC) president Jeff Finkle says “Holbrook is straight forward in his views of economic development practices, and The Little Black Book of Economic Development is a must-read for everyone in the industry who is seeking to make a positive impact on both his or her communities and the profession.”
The book explores the challenges local communities face in the global economy.  Holbrook says traditional strategies are ineffective against the current tide of change.
The book offers practical advice on turning this tide and creating a strategy to win in the 21st century. It explores what more than 55 economic developers and countless key-leaders have to say about best practices that are effective at creating competitive advantage for American economic developers today.
This book is a perfect gift for your board of directors, staff and political associates and key-leaders within your community.  Contact the author for orders greater than five books and receive a 10% discount at don.holbrook@economicdeveloper.com.

STELLAR EVP Holbrook
Makes Appearance on Fox Business Channel
STELLAR EVP Don Holbrook was a recent guest on the Fox BusinessChannel’s ’”Money for Breakfast” program.  Holbrook was interviewed by anchor Alexis Glick on the pending release of the U.S Census Bureau’s November report on durable goods and the Conference Board’s consumer confidence report. To view a video clip of Holbrook’s appearance on this nationally broadcast business news show, click here.

How Did Your Organization Fare in 2007? We Want to Know! 
In the first comprehensive survey of its kind, STELLAR is asking its clients, friends and readers of FUNDamentals to provide feedback on your success in attracting and retaining jobs in 2007. The STELLAR–led survey will assist local economic development organizations improve performance and results.
The cost of jobs influenced is one tool that can be used by EDOs for internal management and marketing. Comparing organizational budgets (inputs) with the number of jobs influence (outputs) is the most popular method of producing the comparison needed for these purposes. Though not completely scientific, it does give the EDO some basis for benchmarking their performance. We would appreciate you providing your data for 2007 and will report our findings in the next issue of FUNDamentals. To take this brief survey, click here.

STELLAR Founder and CEO Terry Cusack Reveals New Data to MAEDC Members
Banks, hospitals and utility companies are among the top ten investors in every economic development funding campaign and also six of the top ten investors in a campaign come from these sectors.  These are just a few of the findings of recent study by STELLAR that was shared with members of the Mid America Economic Development Council at their annual Competitiveness Conference in Chicago. 
STELLAR Founder and CEO Terry Cusack was the featured speaker at a session entitled “Fundraising Strategies”. More than 125 economic development professionals from throughout the Midwest were on hand to hear Cusack’s revealing insights on fundraising trends in communities across the country.  Cusack also shared the elements of conducting an effective fundraising campaign.

For a complete copy of Cusack’s presentation at the conference, visit the MAEDC website here.  If you’re looking for an outstanding speaker, please call Terry’s assistant Cat, and she’ll try and get you on his busy calendar. Terry and the STELLAR Team never charge for speaking, or for expenses, it’s just one of the many ways STELLAR supports the ED and Chamber folks who are so good to us.

After the Campaign: Communicating with Investors
As we point out in the presentation available at the link above, frequent and clear communication with investors after the campaign has ended is key to receiving continued support.  One such tool is an investor newsletter.  We recently came across a terrific example of such a tool done from Penn’s Northeast.  You can see a copy of their investor newsletter here. 

To obtain outstanding results for your organization like those we’ve described above, request a free STELLAR Info Kit, by contacting us at info@stellarfundraising.com.

With our management reorganization and a fresh infusion of expertise and new talent, we are fully staffed and ready to take on your project.  Let’s talk about your community needs, opportunities and threats that you could address via a holistic Strategic Action Plan, please call me toll free 888-897-4667.

Please Remember, Make No Small Plans.

Terry J. Cusack

Founder & CEO
STELLAR Fundraising Executives, Inc.
Check-out our BRAND-NEW website HERE and tell us what you like and/or dislike.  We really do want your feedback; please email it to: info@stellarfundraising.com