Dr. Tony Zeiss, President Central Piedmont Community College

    Our speaker this day was Dr. Tony Zeiss, a fellow club member, and President of Central Piedmont Community College.  As the third President, Tony’s mission for CPCC is to be a nationally recognized leader in workforce development.  In fact, that goal was accomplished this year in its #1 ranking by a large business organization.

   Tony began by identifying certain workforce trends.  Tony is uniquely qualified to serve in this role.  He holds a doctorate in college administration, a masters in speech education.  He has authored several books in such areas as adult literacy, workforce development, and how to create highly motivated teams of employees in the work place.  He also regularly consults in the area of economic development, at both the state and regional levels.

   First, we must understand that human capital is our greatest asset.  The purest form of economic development is human resource development.  Unfortunately in economic down turns, it is commonly reduced.  Statistics provided by the national manufacturing association underscore over double the return on investment verses investment in equipment.

   Second, economic recovery depends upon our ability to train and retrain the workforce.  Economic recovery depends on skilled workers in new fields like biomedical technology to replace job loss in textile and furniture.  We need to focus on job attraction, job expansion, job creation, and job retention.

   Third, our local schools, colleges, and universities have become economic engines for this training.  Central Piedmont Community College has educated over 70 thousand students over the last 34 years and 20% of the students have been trained in basic skills, 40% to receive college credit and another 40% in corporate continuing education.  Yet, this same organization has faced budget cuts the last 4 years in a row.

   In closing, our challenge involves keeping faith in our nation, state, and region, while at the same time adding private resources to our public resources to maintain an edge.

Head Table: Jim Kothe, John Shell, David Lewis, Christie Taylor, Charlie Briley.

Visiting Rotarians & Guests-Martin Waters; Health & Happiness-John Rogers; Invocation Ed Kizer; Song-Jeff Wise.

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POLIO  ERADICATION

     In 1985, Rotary launched PolioPlus, one of the most ambitious humanitarian programs ever undertaken, and made the commitment to help achieve a polio-free world by 2005.   With polio cases having dropped by 99.8%, we are almost there.  Now Rotary International is asking members to step up and help fulfill the promise.

     Area Coordinator David Hodgkins will make a presentation on Polio Eradication at the October 1^st meeting and your help is needed.  To allow for the presentation, President David has agreed to begin the meeting at 12:25.  Club Education and Health & Happiness will be held off until next week, which will help facilitate the time needed for this important update.

     You are encouraged to become part of the team working to eradicate this horrible disease for all time…and that’s priceless.

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Did You Hear...

è Central Piedmont Community College was voted COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF THE YEAR by the National Alliance of Business. Congratulations!

è Jerry Blanchard and Herb Klein were recognized for achieving Paul Harris Fellow status.

è Make plans to attend the Rotary Foundation Banquet on November 16^th.   Sonny Brown, Trustee of the Foundation, will be the keynote speaker.  All Rotarians are encouraged to attend this premier event at the Renaissance Hotel.

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The Sponsor of a New Member

From The ABC’s of Rotary

     The bylaws of Rotary clearly outline the procedure for a prospective member to be proposed for Rotary club membership.  Sponsors should:

1.       Invite a prospective member to several meetings prior to proposing the individual for membership.

2.       Accompany the prospective new member to one or more orientation/informational meetings.

3.       Introduce the new member to other club members each week for the first month.

4.       Invite the new member to accompany the sponsor to neighboring clubs for the first make-up meeting to learn the process and observe the spirit of fellowship.

5.       Ask the new member and spouse to accompany the sponsor to the club’s social activities, dinners or other special occasions.

6.       Urge the new member and spouse to attend the district conference with the sponsor.

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