AUGUST 2018 BACC NEWSLETTER
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BACC is the leading organization in engaging community leaders in
understanding and shaping the future of the greater Green Bay area.
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President's Message, Fr. Paul Demuth
At a recent meeting of the BACC Board we had a lighter agenda, so member Bob Woessner suggested that we take some time to share a book title that we had been reading this summer. It was fascinating to hear what individuals had chosen (later in this issue).
Over the past month, I’ve had some significant quiet time while recuperating from minor surgery. At times I got bored from sitting around, but the hours also allowed me some significant reflection time. As a Board, we relish big ideas; we are all taken by the concept of Futuring (foresight analysis) and our creation of an experimental workshop for 10 - 12 organizations to learn the techniques and put into practice this concept. At the same time, we all realize that the big picture by itself is insufficient. Every person also has his/her own personal story and journey. Whether in education, not for profit, business, government or religion, none of us can neglect our own personal growth and nourishment of ourselves through friends and supportive circles.
Neglecting either the personal story or the mega trends of society leads to an incomplete picture of life and may end in peril for the person, family and greater society. Only in reflection and sharing can we integrate what is needed on all levels of society. Whether it be our faith, a philosophy of life, or getting in touch with the cosmos, we need to blend every level of our life together if we wish to grow.
So, I urge us all, as we "keep busy" helping to make our world a better place, to allow time for the personal reflective space that is needed to be in touch with the deeper levels of our being! Isn't that the stuff of Futuring?
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Know your BACC Director: Michael Lukens
Please describe something about yourself—where you were born, past and current professions and careers, how long you have lived in Brown County, and some of your favorite pass times.
We came to Green Bay in 1971, where I began a career-long position as a Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at St. Norbert College. My love of study and research began very early, first in biological sciences but morphed into history and theology. This teaching and research area had a long gestation period, from the Johns Hopkins University, to Princeton, and then Brown University, with three shaping additional influences along the way: a pioneering stint as an exchange student in the Soviet Union (part of the initial group arranged by Eisenhower and Khrushchev in 1958); Union Theological Seminary in New York with a pastorate on Long Island following ordination, and a doctoral dissertation fellowship at the Institute for European Studies in Mainz.
I managed to continue my vocation in study and research by responding to the call to join the faculty at SNC, where I found teaching a natural and integral vocational complement. It is also true that SNC was the only actual paying job that I have ever had; put that up against the situation today of our younger colleagues! I taught and wrote for 35 years in that position and then finished my time there as Dean of the College, retiring in 2007. Now, in addition to the joys of retirement, I continue a commitment to a research project in Berlin, where we find ourselves on a regular schedule.
Green Bay has been central in my life. My wife, Barbara, was raised here and also had most of her career here. She is a former librarian and also an academic, serving for years as the Director of Outreach and Continuing Education at UWGB and now retired. We have four grown sons and nine grandchildren in Green Bay, Boston, and Minneapolis. We raised our kids in De Pere but for the last 20 years have lived in the woods in Hobart (Oneida). We are both deeply involved in the life of the Church and Barbara is very engaged in social justice issues. As an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church, I served a corporate and church-law position in Wisconsin for 45 years.
Describe your relationship to the BACC—when did you start on the BACC, what are your hopes for the BACC, what personal gifts do you bring to the BACC mission?
In my experience, BACC is unique. As is true for my Board colleagues, I have served as a volunteer on a number of institutional boards, both public and private, such as the De Pere (east) School Board for three terms and Board Chair for NEW Family Services for several years. The BACC has a discerning spirit and an acute sense of distinctive responsibilities. Instead of singular institutional concerns, its focus is the broader community through an assessment of communal strengths/weaknesses and emerging challenges. I find very attractive the BACC’s primary attention to analysis of critical issues and the collaborative options for resolution. This means a consistent focus on actual problems through a high level of intellectual and probative analysis. For me, a BACC meeting is a sophisticated classroom or stimulating seminar, working “on the ground,” not at 30,000 feet, but, as one of my mentors put it, “in the view from below.”
I am in my third term with the BACC and continue to revel in the contribution that it makes to the betterment of our community. Its deliberative processes, diversity of viewpoints and social perspectives, its intellectual and analytic rigor make our time together insightful, meaningful, and fun. Many national commentators note that in a time of national dysfunction, the success of local communities in dealing with their own problems is becoming a vital key to the continuing success of the Republic.
What do you like most about life in Brown County?
We are outdoor people, who relish this area, especially to the north and Door, in kayaking, sailing, and hiking. We even love the winters here and its opportunity for XC skiing. The BACC, even though largely unknown, is a key example of exactly that social success and political stability. Biased as I am, I dare to say that it is a true gem in our common life.
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August 9 BACC Board meeting
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The directors shared the results of a survey of the demographics of the current Board. As a result of the desire to have a diverse Board that reflects the makeup of greater Green Bay, we realize that certain professions, age groups, skills sets, and ethnicities are lacking on the Board. Plans continue to evolve for a set of 2018 futuring workshops with 10-12 participants from the profit and nonprofit industries. The series will be facilitated by internationally known futurist Garry Golden. The Board agreed to adopt a "bring your own coffee cup to BACC meetings" policy to advance environmental sustainability.
There was a group debrief of Pres. Brian Bruess' (St. Norbert College) July presentation on future trends in education. When members were asked how they would act upon Bruess' comments, comments included incorporating occupational research for the betterment of our local knowledge base, participating in "learning in environment" type activities, and shrinking the amount of "kids in crisis." Members also discussed significant books that they are reading this summer (see below).
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BACC director Lee Bouche opines on the "love factor" and "community of choice"
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As a consultant to organizations regarding workplace culture and employee engagement, one of the key cornerstones I use is ”Employees want to love what they do, love where they do it, and love who they do it with.” If you have a high “love factor,” you have a high engagement level.
“To love….” may be a stretch, but we do know there are strategies that can build an intentional culture that fosters high levels of engagement and retention. Studies tell us that employees are attracted to organizations in which they feel their work matters, where they are recognized and appreciated, where they have an opportunity for input in decisions that affect them, where they respect leadership, where they have paths for growth and development, and where the workplace fosters a sense of community. Many organizations are struggling to recruit qualified employees and are finding their best recruitment strategy is a strong retention strategy built on an intentional culture.
This same principle applies to the recommended actions that came out in the
Greater Green Bay: Envisioning the Future Report to the Communit
y
, especially that of being a “Community of Choice.” Like community organizations, our greater Green Bay community as a whole needs to apply strategies to retain and recruit young talent, entrepreneurs, older adults and others that embrace a diverse population. The
Report
offers recommendations to create a community of choice that fosters the opportunity to love
what
you do, love
where
you do it, and love
who
you do it with. These recommendations include establishing a community branding initiative that capitalizes on our existing strengths that attracts diverse young talent, entrepreneurs, and high-tech employers. They also include our local communities putting energies into creating healthier, more live-work friendly neighborhoods, and leveraging our local environment as an economic and recreational asset. There are other recommendations under each of the subject areas that work together to create a community culture that will attract and retain a diverse and dynamic population.
When we step back and see why we are losing our talent to other communities, it is easy to see that our community has many of those same qualities to offer. However, we must be strategic and intentional as we develop and broadcast the message that the Greater Green Bay Community does in fact have the “love factor”--do you?
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News you can use and BACC directors reading list
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Recent news stories, articles, books, videos, Websites or venues of interest to BACC supporters and newsletter readers, recommend by BACC staff and directors. Also community events of interest to BACC supporters
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Boyle, Greg.
Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion. 2014.
Browder, Bill.
Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice. 2015.
Calcaterra, Regina.
Etched in Sand A True Story of Five Siblings Who Survived an Unspeakable Childhood. William Morrow & Co, 2017.
Clinton, Bill, and James Patterson.
The President Is Missing: A Novel. 2018.
Fergus, Jim.
One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd. 2018.
Friedman, Thomas L.
Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist's Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations. 2017.
Grant, Richard.
Dispatches from Pluto: lost and found in the Mississippi Delta. 2015.
Hais, Michael D., Doug Ross, and Morley Winograd.
Healing American Democracy: Going Local
. 2018.
Kelly, Scott.
ENDURANCE: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery. [S.l.]: BLACK SWAN, 2018.
Meacham, Jon.
The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels. 2018. <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=1702006>.
Peterson, Jordan B., Norman Doidge, and Ethan Van Sciver.
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. [London etc.]: A. Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books, 2018.
Putnam, Robert. Putnam, Robert David.
Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis. 2016.
Robinson, Marilynne.
What Are We Doing Here?: Essays. [S.l.]: Picador, 2019.
Rovelli, Carlo, Erica Segre, Simon Carnell, and Carlo Rovelli.
The order of time. 2018.
Sunzi, Peter Harris, and David Howell Petraeus.
The Art of War. 2018.
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