Tim Ricard – Windsor Economic Outlook

Scribe: Tom Boylan Editor: Jake Fowler Introduced by: JB Leep

The bell took off at 7:36 with President Maureen Merrill letting us know we are officially underway.

A little bit of a power problem this morning was hampering the smooth transition to show a series of slides so we got to use our imagination.

Bill Arnone led us in a virtual Pledge of Allegiance.

Our Rotary Four Way Test was once again mentioned.

Words are missing because of this week’s scribe, Tom Boylan.

Note: Lauren Antoni is stepping up into the role of “sunshine coordinator”. If any of the club members know of Rotarian’s or family members of Rotarian’s who are sick or going through a difficult time, we ask that they let Lauren at antoni@sonoma.edu know so she can keep tabs on the situation and also keep the club up to date on how we can better support each other.

Guests of Rotarians:

Pres Maureen introduced Josh Allard Howells, English teacher with Windsor High School and student of the year for the Vineyard Academy, Mateo Hernandez. Mateo had several teachers on hand including Marie Ganister and Bernard Kaufman.

Pres Maureen reminded us that Vittoria, our amazing Italian Exchange student, had a graduation and going away parade in her honor last weekend.

Tim Ricard Economic Development for Town of Windsor will be our speaker.

Diane Brabetz continues to show why she is a Power Player as the Rotarian of the month.

Daniel Myers introduced two of our Students of the Year, Emma McEnhill, from Windsor High School. Each quarter we invite one student from the various core studies and today we had the opportunity to meet two.

Emma says she is interested in attending SRJC with a long term goal of studying Stage management, due to her involvement with Choral at school, and her other pursuit will be Marine Biology. She shared some great images from a recent trip she took aboard the Orion yawl in Canada. This trip gave her a chance to work alongside four other students and get a long look at whale activity. The lessons on microbiology were one aspect of the trip, while learning to sail was another opportunity found.

Marie Ganister let us know her student, Mateo Hernandez is an exceptional young man who manages to uplift a room when he walks into it. His English teacher jumped in to let us know how easy it was to choose Mateo as the student of the year. Bernard Kaufman with the Vineyard Academy also chimed in with accolades for the young man. Christopher Mitts became the fourth instructor to recognize the talents of Mateo. It was a nice gesture for Christopher to backtrack and let Emma know how proud he is of her as well.

Mateo is hoping to become a firefighter, preferably here in Windsor. He is taking classes on pre-academy for the fire fighter program offered at the JC. He found an interest through an Explorer program that he joined four years ago and now is a key member that helps to run the Explorer Club. He found an opportunity to spend time at the local fire house absorbing the atmosphere and the culture of the fire house.

We heard from past fire chief  and Rotary member Doug Williams who shared that he too started his career after serving as an Exploring Scout.

Program:

JB Leep introduced us to the economic development director for the Town of Windsor, Tim Ricard. Tim’s role has been challenging this past year but his previous experience in the same field became an asset for Windsor.

Tim reminded us that he visited with our club about 8 months ago when he informed us of what his job entails. Today he is talking more of the current scenario of being in business and dealing with the COVID-19 fiasco.

We found out there are three areas he is focused on, including creation of a website to let business owners understand the process to acquire loans, and how to work with their employees. The General Business Support includes being a member of a consortium of business leaders working on the COVID problems.

Tim shared how the Town provided free signs for restaurants to promote they are still in business and open for takeout and more. We found out there is a meals with Town of Windsor mayor and the celebrity Mayor of Flavor Time, Guy Fieri. This innovative program has increased the number of views the Town Facebook has been seeing, which can be a benefit when we finally get back to more of a normal business activity.

Promoting Windsor businesses is Tim’s major role as he shared, “We want to reopen as smoothly as possible.”

We are all challenged to become ambassadors for the Town of Windsor. Locals are the front line of sharing our stories of good news. Big Heart, Small Town. There will be a website in the future that will help us to understand the opening of businesses in the North Bay.

To reopen a business you must meet the business mitigation checklist, to minimize in-person interactions, conduct daily monitoring of employee health requirements, and adhere to health and safety guidelines to minimize any problem for clients.

Vittoria’s parting message:

Vittoria shared how excited she was to see everyone that participated in her parade and that it will forever have a place in her heart. She is leaving on June 3rd, but that might change due to flight cancellations that have affected  her previous plans to return home. The parade was a special send off.

President Maureen reinforced the importance of having an exchange program and the benefit that the club had in meeting such a nice human being, Vittoria!

Larry Wassem got the last words… Happy Birthday Larry!