December 15, 2006 -- Dixon Hughes PLLC to Assist Endowment With Accounting/Financial Services
"You just can't imagine how exciting and encouraging it is to receive unsolicited support to get a new business up and running," said Carlton Owen, U.S. Endowment President. That was the reaction he had to a letter from Dixon Hughes' Greenville Partner Mark Crocker offering his firm's services to help get the Endowment up and running.
"I've had the privilege of getting to know many of the team at Dixon Hughes and I know the importance they place on modeling good corporate citizenship," Owen continued. For more than forty years, Dixon Hughes has provided accounting, auditing, tax and consulting services to businesses in a variety of industries. www.dixon-hughes.com
December 1, 2006 -- Palmetto Bank Stakes Endowment to Interim Offices
The Palmetto Bank, Upstate South Carolina's oldest community bank (1906), has provided interim office space to help the U.S. Endowment get its feet on the ground. The offices, in the bank's main Greenville location, afford a great space in the central business district.
"We been heartened by the reception that the Greenville community has offered since announcing that our organizational headquarters will be in the Upstate," said Carlton Owen, Endowment President. "We can't say enough about the kindness and generosity that Leon Patterson and his team at the Palmetto Bank have shown. We'll be hard pressed to ever have space as nice and a landlord as cooperative as that provided by the Bank."
The Bank has provided executive offices to the Endowment for up to six months, free of charge, as the Endowment seeks to get established. Interim offices are located in a building that will be demolished in May of 2007 to make way for The Palmetto Bank to make its own move of its corporate headquarters from Laurens to Greenville ( http://palmettobank.com ).
November 28, 2006 -- New Endowment Created to Manage Funds Arising from U.S.-Canada Settlement
The United States Endowment for Forestry & Communities, Inc., (Endowment) today formalized incorporation as a not-for-profit to receive $200 million in funds to promote sustainable forestry and to assist timber-reliant communities. The grant that will capitalize the Endowment was made under the terms of the recently signed Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA) between the United States and Canada and announced in October. The $200 million earmarked for the Endowment is the largest of three funds designated under the SLA.
"It took much heavy lifting by many folks on both sides of the border to reach the historic softwood lumber agreement between our two great nations," US Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins said. "And now the creation of this endowment represents another dramatic step forward in this process as it recognizes the need to protect and sustain our natural environment while continuing to enhance economic opportunities for citizens on both sides of the border."
The eleven-member board of directors will be Chaired by Dick Molpus, President of Molpus Woodlands Group, LLC of Jackson, Mississippi. Molpus, in announcing the Board said, "Since initially being contacted by The White House in mid-2006, we've been working to assemble an experienced, distinguished board. We all see this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build something from the ground-up that will leave a lasting legacy." The Endowment's Board met via conference call today to among other things, approve bylaws, establish operating procedures and hire its first President & CEO.
For the CEO role they named a proven leader with experience in both the forest products industry and not-for-profit management. Carlton Owen of Greenville, SC, was founder of The Environmental Edge, LLC, that for the past six-years has worked to "bring business and the environment together" to benefit both.
"I'm honored and excited about the opportunity at hand," said Owen. "The caliber of people assembled and the chance to work together with diverse interests from all across the nation in partnership to ensure that our working forests continue to yield a wide array of benefits to society is truly humbling," he continued.
Over the next few months the Endowment's Board and staff will work to establish operating procedures that will ensure the greatest leverage possible and yield not just charitable investments; rather, systemic and lasting change.
The U.S. Endowment for Forestry & Communities, Inc. (Endowment) will be headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. For more information visit the Endowment's website at www.usendowment.org .
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