INDOWNTOWN. CodeBLue is coming. 2 ATWORK. Valuable Cargo. 6 ATHOME. Murray House welcomes you. 7

Leventhals Are Back Where They Started. 4

regionvıewS P R I N G 2 0 1 0

PUBL ICATION OF THE GREATER SPR INGFIELD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

SPONSORED BY:

Valco owner Ed Leventhal looks at the computer screen to a Trumpf Brake Press operated by Bill Ferrell.

Ohio’s Largest Urgent Care Company

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CodeBlue Started with Overheard Phone Call

CodeBlue Centered Around Customer Service It got Gross to thinking. One, it represented poor customer service on the insurer’s part and, two, by not addressing the problem in a timely fashion the cost for repairs would skyrocket. “You take a claim that could have been mitigated for $2,200 and now it’s $22,000 (by waiting three days). I said there has to be a better way and that really was the inspiration. That is the day CodeBlue was born,” said Gross. CodeBlue attempts to have a contractor on the scene within two hours of the call. By doing so, using the science of water mitigation performed by trained and certified technicians, carpeting, flooring, drywall, furniture and other material can be salvaged without requiring replacement. Springfield represents the second office outside Eau Claire, Wisc. for CodeBlue. He said the company has seen “spectacular growth” in the past 12 months with the water mitigation division more than doubling. The $3.2 million command center in Springfield is expected to employ 25 immediately and 150 by the end of 2011 and at least 300 within five years, first at One South Fountain (formerly Credit Life Building) and eventually on the fourth floor of the Bushnell Building.

Regional, State Cooperation Key to Choosing SpringfieldPaul Gross can trace the moment he developed the idea for CodeBlue. Gross, who is President and CEO of Insurance Claims Management of which CodeBlue is a division, had purchased another company back in 2003. That company, Harmons Solution Group, was a third party claims administrator. One of HSG’s roles was to handle claims calls after hours for clients of insurance companies. He was listening in on calls coming to the center when a homeowner in Texas called around 10 p.m. on a Friday night. The water line to his refrigerator had broken and flooded his home. The role of Gross’s company was to take a message and pass it on to the insurer, which in that case would be Monday. No, that’s not satisfactory, the customer said, insisting on a quicker response. Gross’s customer service representative in trying to serve the caller phoned the adjustor who asked why he was being called, that it was an issue that could be dealt with Monday.

Gov. Ted Strickland, right, listens as Paul Gross, CodeBlue President and CEO, addresses crowd at press conference outside Chamber offices.

Springfield means business

Hometown Urgent Care Offers OptionIf you are looking for a better solution for the Occupational Health needs of your company, you have an alternative. Hometown Urgent Care & Workcare Center’s Springfield Facility is now open. Hometown provides comprehensive, cost effective and customer driven urgent care and occ-med services to Springfield community at One-Stop. Hometown makes your employee healthcare simple and economical with its unique full-service, 7 days a week service model. Now Springfield employers don’t have to schedule an occ-med visit or wait for next day service to take care of their Occ-med needs. Now their employees can just walk into Hometown’s Springfield facility and get

on the fast track process to see a physician for work injuries, get a drug screen or be seen for any minor injury or illness. With its convenient location across from Meijer and 7 days a week accessibility, including extended evening hours on all weekdays, patients can see a doctor when they need one. In fact, Hometown is Ohio’s largest Urgent Care and Occupational Health Company. Hometown has 12 full-service locations in Ohio, nine of which are in Dayton and surrounding cities. All of Hometown facilities are fully equipped with on-site X-ray, labs, prescription services, PFT, BAT and more and are staffed by experienced physicians to provide comprehensive and compassionate urgent care and occupational health services to Ohio communities in One-Stop.

For employers who do not offer health insurance to their employees, Hometown has a Discount Card program called Hometown Carecard, which allows members to get huge discounts at Hometown facilities including up to 50 percent on X-rays, EKG etc. And there is no fee to join. Phone 610-0710 option 4 to speak with a Client Service Managers. For more information, visit www.hometownurgentcare.com or contact Chris Hale, at 937-602-0483 or chrish@daytondoc.com.

Ohio’s Largest Urgent Care Company

SPRINGFIELD Keeping up with what’s happening at the Chamber and how it affects you

INSIDEVIEWS

Why Join?There are many reasons a business joins the Chamber of Commerce, whether it be in Springfield or any

other city. Naturally, I hope the main reason is that a business recognizes the positive work the Chamber does, but maybe it’s because of the benefits the company receives. Those benefits can be both direct and indirect. Let me explain. When people ask me “What does the Chamber do?” I have a hard time answering that question. One way

to put it is we do whatever it takes to move the community forward.

Naturally, that sometimes requires we do some pushing against those who might be content to be a caretaker of the status quo. We have had some big wins in the past few years because the Chamber has been aggressive in pursuit of jobs. We continually get feedback from companies that have moved here in recent months (Selecttech, Phygen, CodeBlue) that our efforts have surpassed those of other cities they considered. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying this has been a total Chamber effort. The city, the county, our government representatives are all part of making these things happen. Are you part of this success story? If you’re a Chamber member, you can take credit for the progress being made. We are beginning a membership drive in April. Member businesses are the backbone of the Chamber. Let me put it bluntly: if your business is not a member, it should be for a couple reasons. Doing your part in supporting the community in which you operate and your employees live includes being a Chamber member. Here’s another reason to either join or renew your membership each year: weSee Why Join on page 5

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Mike McDorman, PresidentGreater Springfield

Chamber of Commerce

Chamber members: Get a six-cent per gallon Speedway discount card. Phone 937-325-7621.

Economic Development Success Depends on Bottom Line for Local BusinessesSpringfield’s economic development success will ultimately be based on one factor and that’s whether the community makes a meaningful difference to the income statement of the businesses here. That was the message Ned Hill, Dean of the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, gave to more than 500 people who attended the Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting at the Clark State Performing Arts Center. “So you have to ask the question: do you represent the world’s best place to operate that particular business?” he said. He told of three companies that are moving to the most expensive place to do business – Silicon Valley – because the talent isn’t available anywhere else. “In Cleveland, I’ve seen companies go to Mexico, I’ve seen them go to Virginia because we didn’t make a difference to their income statement,” said Hill. He said communities often put an emphasis on quality of life when they try to bring in or retain a company. “Quality of life is necessary to play the game, it’s not sufficient to win,” Hill said. To win, he said, requires having vibrant products and you also have to make a difference in the income statement. He praised Springfield for understanding that, while paying attention to new products, new companies and entrepreneurship. Long-term economic development success won’t be achieved by the economic development department. “It has nothing to do with David Zak over there,” Hill said referring to the Chamber’s Vice President, economic development. “It has everything to do with your education, your universities, your housing stock and, more importantly, how you relate to each other as a community.” Mike McDorman said in his four years as Chamber president he has heard the negative comments about Springfield. We are the town time forgot. We are a town with big-city problems but without the benefits. We are not a community that is expected to win. But in those same four years, he said the Chamber and the community have continued to dream big. “This is a unique time in our community’s history. Our community is moving forward in extraordinary ways,” he said. He listed the $250 million downtown hospital, the $15 million surgical center, two industrial parks and a tech park, a $3 million downtown connector park, a $6 millionSee Economic Development on page 5

Ned Hill speaks at the Chamber’s annual meeting.

Chamber President Mike McDorman presents Business of Year award to Chris Woeber, Dick Woeber, Ray Woeber, along with CIC Chair Kathleen Hughes and Board Chair James Peifer.

Chamber member businesses save 8% on electric generation

SPRINGFIELD Company lands on its feet after fire

YOURBUSINESS

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Leventhal Family Back Where It All BeganVining Broom Factory Has Found New Mission

Here’s a warning to anyone who might be thinking of sneaking a nap while on the job at Valco Industries or A & E Powder Coating.

Don’t. If you come up missing for a while, it won’t take long for the boss to find you. He knows every nook and cranny in the cavernous facility that consumes a full block at Sheridan Avenue and Burt Street. “It’s another good thing about being in this building. We know all the hiding places. Some of the employees might think they can hide from us but we’ve been there, done that,” joked Ed Leventhal, owner of Valco and A & E Power Coating. He knows them because the buildings were once the home to the family business – Vining Broom – for decades. Leventhal worked there on the floor and in the offices. Ironically, you can now find some branch of the Leventhal family back in what to them are friendly confines. Ed and his son, Adam, operate A&E Powder Coating, thus the name. Ed is also the owner-president of Valco Industries. A cousin, Todd, has a niche on the east side of the building where he runs Nexstep Commercial Products, a descendent of the Vining Broom and O’Cedar Brands Companies. Fred, one of the Leventhal originals when they purchased Vining Broom back in the 1930s, has an office just a few steps away from his son, Todd. Fred operates and sells discontinued brooms and mops to Odd Lots-type retailers. Call them one big happy family now that they’re home again. “When we were here (as Vining) we used the entire complex, and as of today we just

have a little office space left to rent,” Ed Leventhal said. Nearly 50 percent of all the space where Vining once occupied the spacious buildings and employed a couple hundred people is being used by the Leventhals.” Additionally, space is rented to TAC Industries for storage of nets being repaired for the military. The McGregor-owned manufacturing companies also utilize storage space. The story of how they all ended up under the same roof can be traced to Feb. 9, 2007. Ed was at a morning meeting of the Springfield Foundation when Adam made an urgent call to him. The Valco plant, at the intersection of Rt. 68 and County Line Road (6901 Urbana Road) adjacent to Navistar, was on fire. Ed went to Valco as General Manager about a dozen years ago, following the sale of O’Cedar Vining and its subsequent fall into bankruptcy under the new ownership. He became a part owner of Valco with Jim Valentine and Charles Crabill, eventually buying them out. That was about six years ago. Ironically, sitting with him at the meeting when he got word of the fire was Andy Bell, his insurance agent at Consolidated Insurance. They both went to the scene.

“It was just sort of unbelievable. The whole thing was in flames. I think it was the coldest day of the year,” Ed said one recent day his desk separated from Adam’s by A & E’s General Manager Mike Casto, who also had worked at Vining for many years. How father and son became so close is yet another story of how “when life gives

you lemons, you make lemonade.” A&E’s biggest customer is Valco, a metal fabrication company, that designs, engineers, cuts, bends, breaks, machines, welds and stamps metal. Rittal is one of its largest customers along with Navistar and companies, such as Fontaine, that modifies cabs for various uses. Those metal parts must be protected. Some might use paint. Others – and the list is growing – favor powder coating. “It’s an alternative to liquid paint,” said Adam. “It’s environmentally friendly, applies a good all-around coating for the parts and we don’t have the EPA issues with liquid paint.” Powder protects the part from scratching, also from UV rays and from marring. It provides chemical resistance and has recently become price competitive with liquid paint. A&E, which employs 18, was located at a former Vining plant on Columbus Avenue. Trucks were making the trip from there to Valco on Route 68 three or four times per day. A&E was planning an expansion but needed a different facility. The layout of the Columbus Avenue plant wasn’tSee Leventhals on page 5

Ed Leventhal, left, and Jerry Reed monitor the Trumpf TruLaser 500, the first replacement laser bought after the fire.

Todd Leventhal bought the commercial division of O’Cedar Brands and has seen it grow 2 ½ times and increased the number of products from 150 to 375.

A&E Powder Coating General Manager Adam Leventhal inspects a powder coated spring.

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Search for home took on new urgency.

Leventhals, continued from page 4 conducive to an efficient operation with a new line, Adam said. Valco and its 34 to 38 employees were contemplating looking for a new location, too. The fire dictated a move. Valco had considered building a new facility, but, now, time was of the essence. Fortunately, all was not lost in the fire. Valco’s equipment was spread between two buildings. One was untouched but the loss in equipment still totaled nearly $2 million. Two lasers, two machining centers, a tube bender, inventory and the accounting, engineering and reception offices were destroyed.

Friends helped In the meantime, friends helped out. Customer Fontaine Modification put nine Valco employees to work temporarily, Benjamin Steel took a couple, and friendly competitor, Remington Steel, offered use of their machining center to meet orders. Work was outsourced to meet the needs of customers. Valco had been looking for new space for some time, but now the search for a new location began immediately. They had gone to an auction for the old Trenor Motors that Robinson Insulation bought. Building new on the older Bauer Brothers property across from their current location was also considered. “But that would have taken six to nine months and a heck of a lot of money, which

we felt could be better used on upgrading and improving our equipment” Ed said. Due to the emergency circumstances the old Vining site (which Valco had previously scratched off the list of possible expansion locations prior to the fire) was reconsidered.

Site was available “Once the fire happened, it certainly lended itself to what was needed and was available for immediate occupancy. It certainly has worked out considerably better than thought,” Ed said. Little retrofitting to suit it for a new mission was needed. Plus Maintenance Superintendent Jerry Stultz had worked there in the same capacity for Vining. By early April a replacement laser was purchased and delivered to Sheridan Avenue. The plant was totally operational by July, five months after the fire. By October 2008, A&E had followed, allowing for one smooth transition with parts going from Valco to A&E and back without leaving the building. And, yes, Ed said he takes some satisfaction in seeing what could have been another large abandoned building in Springfield get a second life, especially given the family history in the facility. “I think we all feel very good. It’s up and active and creating jobs and I hope it’s helping the neighborhood,” he said.

Annual Meeting, continued from page 3downtown arts and conference center, a $6 million ice area and a new six mile whitewater experience on Buck Creek that runs through downtown as examples of recent successes. He envisions development of a retail, professional office, restaurant and entertainment district in the core of the downtown. “These are significant investments being made in greater Springfield that will position us well as a metropolitan region strategically located between Columbus and Dayton,” McDorman said. “You could almost call many of the initiatives happening today a miracle,” he said. He used the movie “Miracle” that told the story of the 1980 gold-medal winning U.S. Olympic hockey team as an example of how seemingly impossible goals can be attained. At the meeting, Charles Brougher, former President and CEO of Eagle Tool, was presented the Richard L. Kuss Lifetime Achievement Award. Woeber Mustard was named the Business of the Year, First Diversity Staffing the Minority Business of the Year, and Littleton and Rue Funeral Home the Small Business of the Year. Charlene Roberge was named Ambassador of the Year.

A worker coats a metal part in the A&E Powder Coating section of the plant.

Why Join, continued from page 3continue to add benefits that directly save your business and your employees money. A Chamber-member business can save as much as eight percent by choosing FirstEnergy Solutions as your generation supplier through May 2011 and then get a fixed price of 6.25 cents per kWh through May 2012. To enroll, get a form from the Chamber or phone 1-800-254-4769 weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. by March 31. Plus, have a chance to win free electric generation for one year.Employees of Chamber member businesses also can receive a discount on their home electric usage. Our prescription discount card can save Chamber-member employees 75 percent in some cases and on average 30 percent.In addition, Chamber members and employees can receive a six-cent per gallon Speedway discount card and a new member business can receive a $400 News-Sun ad discount and a renewal $200.

Chamber members: Get a six-cent per gallon Speedway discount card. Phone 937-325-7621.

SPRINGFIELD Economic development - A look at how businesses do business

CICNEWSVIEWS

Sparks Keep Flying at Champion’s Special Products Division

Sophisticated Containers Carry Expensive Cargowhether they are in the ocean or in Siberia. Champion’s containers are used to ship the turbines from the manufacturer to the drilling platform. “We are, gosh, so active right now. We can’t believe it. Every day is a surprise. We are very lucky and blessed,” said Dimitri Gianakopoulos, Executive Vice President of the Champion Company. Commercial and military applications require the building of custom-made containers from the size of a shoe box to ones that accommodate jet engines. Champion, for example, recently developed two different types of containers for engines made by GE, Pratt Whitney and Rolls Royce that power the F135 joint strike fighter, the military’s newest plane. On the commercial side, say U.S. Airways has a $2 million jet aircraft engine that needs extensive repairs sitting on a runway in Paris. They may use a Champion tightly sealed shock proof, atmospheric resistant container to ship it back to General Electric in Cincinnati for repairs. Because the containers are made to last 20 years or more, the same container can be used to ship the repaired engine back. “Everything is custom made. We put them through rigorous testing — drop

them, smash them, roll ‘em, bury ‘em and shake ‘em. We do all that here in Springfield,” Gianakopoulos said. They’ll even rent a crane to lift and drop them. The company was once owned by the Baker family and was bought by Art Gianakopoulos, Dimitri’s father, and his uncle, Jim, in 1989. It morphed from a maker of burial vaults more than 50 years ago to what it is today. A customer had come and asked for a burial vault that would be used to ship a sensitive item. The purchaser needed a custom made vault that was larger and had a protective support structure inside. The burial vault segment of the business was sold and the protective containers business grew. Champion containers are recognized as some of the best if not the best on the market. Its innovative designs are superior to its competitors, Gianakopoulos said.

“I’m not just saying that to toot our own horn, but we are told that on a regular basis by our customers, from the service people in the field who use our products on a daily basis and the service men and women in the armed forces who use them on a daily basis,” he said. The company recently developed a soft-ride system for an existing container design that was requested by an existing customer. The customer was shipping $6 million turbines up mountains in South America to provide electricity for remote villages. The trucks didn’t have air-ride trailers, making for a bumpy ride. Gianakopoulos said it’s another example of what distinguishes the company from the competition.

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Welding Supervisor Brian Howser welds together a Champion container.

Champion Executive Vice President Dimitri Gianakopoulos stands beside a shipping container for a turbine used for electric generation.

Walk into either of the two Champion Company’s Kenton or Harrison Street plants and more than likely the sparks will be flying. No, it’s not a sign of dissension within the ranks. It’s a sign that the Special

Products Division (SPD) has ignored the nation’s economic woes and the company’s many welders are working diligently to keep up with demand. There are at least two reasons for the company’s strong past and upcoming forecast: wars in Iraq/Afghanistan and the spike in oil prices that occurred a couple years ago. The SPD builds containers for shipping fragile parts that have been used in everything from the Hubble telescope to tank parts. Most containers used in military support have gone to Iraq, but new designs and parts for fleet equipment to endure the rugged terrain in Afghanistan are headed there in Champion containers. Also, increased oil prices made drilling more lucrative. Oil drilling companies needed power sources at their sites,

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Second of two parts on Champion Company

SPRINGFIELD You and our visitors can get local information from VisitSpringfieldOhio.com

CVBNEWSVIEWStake long to convince Sue. They had been in the catering business for 10 years so preparing food was no problem. “I’ve always felt I was placed on this earth to feed people and animals,” Sue said. Marc has always loved old properties and restoring them. “Everything Marc and I have done in life leading up to this has prepared us for this adventure.” Their children and spouses were all for it. They operate an antiques and primitive shop downstairs that is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays. A son-in-law who is a plumber by trade handles most of the maintenance. They opened in March of 2009 on the 11-acres with walking trails. The B and B has three suites of various sizes, each with its own bathroom, television and the house offers wireless Internet access. Four free concerts by local artists were hosted on their front porch with 100 to 200 in attendance for each. Guests were asked to bring their own lawn chairs and to make a donation or bring canned goods that were donated to a local food pantry. They see it as a way of giving back to the community. The house and property has been used for birthday parties, family reunions, bridal and baby showers, weddings and office Christmas parties (“We already have bookings for next Christmas,” Sue said). The bridal suite allows the bride to look down at the front lawn as guests arrive. Guests have come from as far away as London and Germany and all over the United States. People coming for antiquing weekends in Springfield stay at the B&B. They’ve been surprised by the number of Springfield destination guests they’ve had — people coming here for the symphony concerts or performances at the Clark State Performing Arts Center. Plans include building a chapel to hold weddings in the wooded area and to build a stone stage in the grounds natural amphitheater for their monthly in-season concerts. An adjacent five-car garage with living quarters may some day become an apartment or a place for long-term visitors. Marc looks forward to raising calves and goats on the property, and Sue envisions a large garden to help supply the kitchen. The house that they once looked at skeptically they now see as a family homestead for generations to come.

Bed and Breakfast Wasn’t First Choice Of Murray FamilyMore Additions, Improvements Planned

For Marc and Sue Murray, it wasn’t love at first sight. Actually, they were very hesitant at first glance. The house on the hill had charm but needed work. They’d already rehabbed a 100-year-old house in South Charleston and built a new one in the same community. Did they want to tackle another such project?

The Murray House Bed and Breakfast on Route 72 north of Springfield (3774 Urbana Road) adjacent to the Polo Club, has been known by recent generations as the home of Joseph and Georgann Shouvlin. There’s even a tie to Burton and Orpha Westcott, as their daughter Jeanne and her husband Richard Rodgers built the house in 1922 and resided there with their four daughters, two of whom are still living. So the house has a history, but when the Murrays visited, the home had begun to fall into disrepair after sitting empty for over a year. Some repairs had been made. Asbestos was removed and new heating units installed, but by the time the Murrays were looking at it, the ceiling in the family room had fallen in. Still, two days after their first visit on a cold, typical January day in Ohio, Marc wanted a second look at the home, which is all but obscured from the highway by the hundreds of trees that dominate the property. The reason they were even looking at the house grew from annual family “retreats” in which the Murrays, their children and spouses, began talking about a family business. “We were looking to accept a café and antique shop. The bed and breakfast was never even mentioned,” Sue said. Only after Marc began mapping out plans for the café-antique shop did he see the possibilities for the bed and breakfast. It didn’t

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Sue Murray, who owns the Murray House B and B with her husband, Marc, stands in one of the bedrooms of the three suites.

Innkeeper Sue Murray sits in the room that is designated for brides as they prepare for their weddings in the front yard.

Sue Murray stands beside the large fireplace that serves as the focal point of the family room.

Chamber members: Get a six-cent per gallon Speedway discount card. Phone 937-325-7621.

leave the program, which often takes another year.

Tutoring The Tutors A New Role The Center has taken on two new responsibilities. Two years ago, it began training tutors for other organizations that address literacy needs. “We think we can make a bigger difference by working alongside more organizations that are trying to do some things in literacy similar to what we are doing,” Smiddy said. Although the Center came out of a serious funding crisis last year that was addressed through public appeals and the restructuring of its funding, it is now on solid footing. It plans to gain fiduciary control of its city-owned headquarters building at the corner of High and Spring Streets by October.

Center Opens Used BookstoreNeed a gently used book?You can get a good deal at the Clark County Literacy Coalition, 137 E. High St. Or maybe you’d like to donate a book. The Literacy Center will accept books for readers of all ages. Proceeds go to the building’s maintenance fund. Hardcover books cost $2 and two for $1 for children’s books. Paperbacks are $1, three for $1 for young adults and children. VCR tapes are also available. They will take atlases, cookbooks, comics but don’t accept textbooks, encyclopedias, or magazines and are picky about which dictionaries they will take for their own use. The Center is open Monday through Wednesday 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

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Literacy Board President Has Firsthand Knowledge Of Organization’s Value

As president of the Clark County Literacy Coalition’s Board of Directors, Lisa Holmes knows how important the organization is. In fact, she knows firsthand. Holmes was a student at the Literacy Center, then became a tutor and is now board president. She’s just one of the many success stories the 22-year-old organization has enjoyed in addressing the literacy needs of three segments of the population. The Center serves school children, who are at least two grade levels behind in reading, English speaking adults with literacy difficulties and adults for whom English is a second language. Students turn to the Center for any number of reasons. Parents may bring their children because they are falling behind in school. An adult may come because he or she can’t pass the written part of the driver’s license exam. A foreign-born adult may come to get ahead in their job or to better assimilate into their new surroundings.

First Steps Are Most Difficult Holmes, who played sports in high school but had dyslexia and was in learning disability classes, came for a number of reasons. Her first year out of high school she had 15 jobs. Some she quit, some she got fired from because of her literacy difficulties that included operating a register. She put the problem behind her and became a hair stylist for 12 years. She coped by avoiding situations that required reading and writing, but then she married. Her husband, Kevin, suggested she consider going to the Literacy Center. She was skeptical… and afraid. “I walked in that door and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Holmes said. Literacy Coalition Executive Director Dave Smiddy said it’s not an uncommon feeling. He’s had people tell him they came up to the door three or four times before entering.

Holmes, who was 32 when she sought help, understands why the hesitancy. “I always felt alone and I was embarrassed and ashamed and didn’t really talk about it. If I did, I’d be bawling my head off,” she said. Holmes knew that with a family she didn’t want her children to be ashamed of their mother. And, she wanted to help them. What she found at the Center were people who understood and were compassionate. She credits her tutor, Mary, who was with her during the two years. Holmes reached a level of proficiency that put her beyond the program’s guidelines of needing assistance. While she admits that writing remains difficult, she believes her reading level would be of college entry competency. “It was really a wonderful experience,” she said of her time as a student. She volunteered as a children’s tutor after “graduating” until family obligations took precedence. Children, on average, spend two years in the program, meeting with a tutor twice per week. Smiddy said it may take one year to get them up to grade level. The goal is to have them reading two grade levels ahead before they

Dave Smiddy, Literacy Coalition Executive Director, and Lisa Holmes, Board President, help Lisa’s son, Matthew, pick out a children’s book.

The plaque at what is now the Warder Literacy Center.

NON-PROFITS Serve the City and County