Community
A Letter from the President;
It’s appropriate as we near the end of the year to take stock of where the Schuyler County Cooperative Extension is today and where we’re going in the coming years. As you will see in the following pages this past year we have had some notable successes and a few setbacks. The 4-H camp, youth development and parenting programs, and robotics workshops measure among the successes. On the other hand, reductions in funding to our nutrition program caused us to scale back our fine programming in this area. As usual, our quality agriculture and natural resources programs remain constant, reliable contributors to the environmental and economic health of our community. In the midst of our normal activities we were also called upon to support neighboring associations with interim management support; a call answered by our Executive Director, Danielle Hautaniemi, with enthusiasm and professionalism. In addition, much credit goes to Brett Chedzoy, Mel Schroeder and Jennifer Sweet as they temporarily filled the leadership gaps created while Danielle performed her extra duties.
We face some interesting challenges in 2015. Again, it appears funding will be limited while the demand for our programs increase. Staying current with and adjusting to changing community needs remains a constant test for our staff and board. In recognition of these challenges we have recently completed an update to our Strategic Plan. This five year plan addresses the immediate needs of the community and establishes long-term goals in anticipation of future requirements. In addition to supporting our core programming, special projects are planned that include; conducting a study to determine if we can achieve lower costs and better programming by sharing cooperative extension services with Yates County CCE; attracting funding from non-traditional sources; and, accelerating our publicity efforts to help determine community needs and increase the public’s awareness of our programming and services. A copy of the plan is available upon request.
In closing, I offer my sincere thanks to the staff for their dedication and work ethic. Special thanks to the program volunteers and the board of directors, also volunteers. They all willingly give of their time, knowledge and efforts to ensure the Association can provide quality, cost-effective programs to Schuyler County residents and surrounding communities.
Jerome P. Smyder, President
Schuyler County Cornell Cooperative Extension