Good News Southeastern Indiana: DCCF and Tami Wenning jump into action during heal...

Good News Southeastern Indiana: DCCF and Tami Wenning jump into action during heal...: If you are from Greensburg and Decatur County, then you are not shocked and surprised at the efforts of many, especially in times of crisis...

DCCF and Tami Wenning jump into action during health crisis

If you are from Greensburg and Decatur County, then you are not shocked and surprised at the efforts of many, especially in times of crisis. This won’t surprise you either, but I am going to tell you about it anyway.

In her sixth year as the Executive Director of the Decatur County Community Foundation, my friend Tami Wenning wasted very little time in stepping up to the plate during the current COVID-19 health crisis.

The Decatur County Community Foundation quickly put together plans for a Rapid Response Grant consisting of $25,000 and they established the Decatur County Community Disaster Relief Fund. The Foundation put in $20,000 to use as a dollar-for-dollar match meaning any dollar donated into that fund is matched and it goes back into the community providing much needed assistance during this crisis.

Within one week of rolling out the RRG, the Foundation sent out checks for nearly $22,000 to provide additional funding for Meals on Wheels, Human Services, Gleaner’s Food Bank, Carousel Play and Learn Center, AGAPE, Letts Ambulance Service, the Decatur County Family YMCA and others providing immediate and tangible relief to the community.

And how about this – the Disaster Relief Fund received $30,000 from First Financial Bank and $9,000 of that went immediately to assisting the Decatur County School Corporation to implement mobile hot spots to facilitate e-learning, a critical asset for the school year since school instruction as we have known changed in an instant.

The DCCF is also discussing ways to help small businesses in our community and planning continues with that project. Of course, all of this has the blessings of the DCCF Board of Directors lead by retired banker Daryl Tressler as President of the Board. I am told that Daryl just gets things done and I believe it, having seen him in action many times since I came to this county in 1995.

And all this good doesn’t happen just because of one person. While Tami Wenning is in the big chair, she has built an excellent staff including Jenny Nobbe Schebler who keeps the bills paid and continues to work with the scholarship committee so graduating seniors can plan for their continuing education. Also, Daniel Fayette keeps up the website for the DCCF including the correct information on applying for grants and how to donate to the COVID 19 Disaster Relief Fund. That website can be found at https://dccfound.org/

Then there is public relations guru Alex Sefton who keeps things flowing by cutting checks for the RRG and by being the tech expert for Zoom video meetings, while Darin Miley continues checking in on regular grant applications and keeping the scenes moving behind the scenes. Last and most certainly not least is the ever-fun loving Sue Feaster who is waiting in the wings for any assignment Tami can give to her.

As a side bar, many moons ago, I hired Tami to be a stringer writer (this means part time with very little pay, if any) for the Greensburg Daily News. Knowing she lives near the Westport area, I asked Tami to be my southern connection to the community and provide good news happening in that area. Her column, Southern Comfort, was responsible for dramatically increasing our circulation numbers and subscriber base in the Westport area.

Tami also saved me one ice-covered day, when my boys and I made a Cheer Fund deliver near her home and could not get out of a steep driveway due to the ice. Of course, Tami had a small hand in coming to my rescue and it did not surprise me

Keep your eye on Tami Wenning and the Decatur County Community Foundation as they continue to review what works and what doesn’t, so they can be even better prepared for future events impacting our Decatur County community.

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EDCGDC responds to health crisis

Imagine sitting in the big chair at the Economic Development Corporation when your phone rings and you find out that a major corporation such as Honda Manufacturing is interested in land in your county, bringing 2,000 plus jobs to Southeastern Indiana. The work begins, and you suddenly find yourself in the spotlight of the biggest news story your county has seen in say - forever.

There are phone calls, incredible planning sessions, countless meetings, negotiations, media interviews, the ground-breaking, speeches, etc… Life is busy, but good. You feel pride because now you are bringing the recognition to your county that you worked hard for the entire world to know about. The fact that your community was finally being known as the place to be. More jobs and more opportunities will follow as you gear up for the economic expansion in the years to come. Hard work has paid off - finally.

Now imagine sitting in that same chair when the largest health crisis the world has ever seen hits your community and the rest of the world. Suddenly, your 2.3 percent jobless rate skyrockets to numbers not seen since – ever. Life as it is known comes to a virtual standstill. Factories and businesses are ordered closed. Goods are not being made or shipped. The economy is coming apart at the seams. Workers are laid off and executives at the factories and other businesses are scrambling for answers, advice and help.

Greensburg’s Bryan Robbins was not in that Executive Director chair when Honda announced it would build in Decatur County, however, he is in that big chair right now, facing the most stressful and difficult time I would image any of us have ever seen.

My shout out today goes to the Economic Development Corporation Greensburg Decatur County and its staff, Bryan Robbins and his rock star assistant Amy Cook Borns. Do not think for one minute that Bryan and Amy have slowed down just because there is a stay-at-home order and they are adhering to it like everyone else. No siree Bob. Absolutely not.

While I continue to applaud those local folks on the front line of this pandemic, let me tell you I know for a fact that the local EDC is not getting much sleep these days either. Bryan remains in constant contact with the local industrial base. Discussing their plans and seeing how his office can assist them. He has spent hours staying on top of the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program so he can help businesses the best he can. One must also realize that in the beginning, these programs and plans by our Federal Government seemed to change by the hour. In fact, there was and still are, many things that seem to change by the hour. It can be difficult to stay on top of it, especially when you have other responsibilities such as Bryan and Amy.

I know Bryan is in communication almost daily with the Decatur County Commissioners President Rick Nobbe, Mark Koors, and Jerome Buening, Greensburg Mayor Joshua Marsh, Decatur County Memorial Hospital CEO Rex McKinney, and many others. His cell phone doesn’t get much of a chance to cool down. His email is being blown up from local business leaders, to the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Small Business Administration and most likely many more. Like those on the front line, his office did not take the weekend off.

Rest assured Greensburg and Decatur County, Bryan Robbins and Amy Borns are very aware of the pangs you as unemployed fellow citizens and your business leaders and owners are experiencing. They do not take it lightly. There is not much rest for that staff. And neither do the Board of Directors for the EDCGDC, giving Bryan full support. That shows confidence in the efforts of that office.

Our group remains in constant daily communication, many times a day, so I know what they are going through. Perhaps not as much as your unemployed family or ill family members, but that boulder on their shoulders is more like a mountain and they are preparing for better times ahead in our return to what will be the new normal as we make an economic come back. Stronger than ever.

Thanks, EDCGDC.
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