Minutes of South Dakota RehabACTion Annual Meeting

Monday, March 5, 2007

Ramkota Convention Center

Pierre, South Dakota

Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by President Margie Helgeson. Approximately 50 RehabACTion members were present.

Board Members Present: President, Margie Helgeson; President-Elect, Cindy Ryan; Past President, Alan Vandenburg; Treasurer, Bernie Grimme; Interim Secretary, Mary Lesselyoung; Member at Large, Keith Rouse; Provider Member, Dan Rounds.

Approval of Minutes:

Copies of the minutes of the last annual meeting were distributed and reviewed. Rich Gardner made a motion to accept the minutes, and this was seconded by Mary Waugh. All were in favor.

Membership Report:

Bernie presented the membership report. 7 new members were signed up at the conference which brings the count to 103 current SD members.

Treasurer’s Report:

Copies of the Treasurer’s report were distributed and reviewed by Bernie. He again explained that he will be meeting with an Accountant in the near future for tax purposes. Cindy Ryan made a motion to approve the report, and this was seconded by Rich Gardner. All were in favor.

Fall Conference:

Bernie and Dan provided an update on the plans for fall conference. The conference will be held in Aberdeen at the Ramkota Inn, October 17 -19. This date will coincide with the National Disabilities Employment Awareness Month events. The Aberdeen Employer Resource Network will be involved in the conference and likely will share some costs. There will be general and break out sessions. Richard Pimentel is scheduled to be our primary speaker. A flyer introducing Mr. Pimentel was distributed.

Legislative Update:

The State Legislative update was provided by Shelly Pfaff. She reported on some of the 75-80 bills she has been tracking in the legislature. Shelly passed out written materials summarizing this information.

The Federal Legislative update was presented by Grady Kickul. He discussed the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act. Last year the House and Senate did not resolve their differences so no action was taken. With a new Congress this year there is likely to be some progress however, nothing will happen real soon. Grady also informed us of the CSAVR recommendations made to Congress.

ARAN Consortium Update:

Margie Helgeson presented an ARAN update. She spoke of Catriona MacDonald’s new contract, the need for a strategic plan for 2007, and the new chapter liaisons being appointed from each state to provide information for the newsletter: In the Public Interest.

 Passing of the Gavel Ceremony:

Margie Helgeson passed the gavel of the office of President to Cindy Ryan. Cindy continued conducting the meeting as new president of SD RehabACTion.

Election:

The nominees for the open board positions were announced and a call for additional nominations to slate was requested. A motion was made by Stan Hohm to accept the nominations and this was seconded by Randy Christensen. The ballots were distributed and the voting process was completed. Margie Helgeson and Cindy Ryan collected the ballots and tallied the results. The results of the election were presented at the RehabACTion Social later that evening. The following is a list of the new board members and positions:

President: Cindy Ryan

President-Elect: Steve Resick

Secretary: Mary Lesselyoung

Treasurer: Bernie Grimme

V. R. Member at Large: Keith Rouse

Provider Member at Large: Cindy Kirschman

Old Business: NA

New Business: NA

Adjournment:

Randy Christensen made the motion to adjourn the meeting, and this was seconded by Dave Schirr. All were in favor.