Executive Director’s Report:
Keep Arkansas Beautiful Commission Meeting: January 22, 2014
_______________________________________________________________________
1. Happy New Year! Best wishes for an enjoyable and accomplished 2014. We will have
a lot of exciting opportunities to provide leadership and resource to our programs and
affiliates while helping communities and citizens Keep Arkansas Beautiful all year long.
2. Remember, this summer, June 13th to be exact, Keep Arkansas Beautiful will be
celebrating our 25th Anniversary (!); it’s themed as our Greeniversary rather than silver.
More specific details will be shared as they develop.
3. The New Year also brings a new President / CEO to Keep America Beautiful! Jennifer
M. Jehn began January 6th, offering her marketing acumen matched by her passion for
sustainable social impact, making her uniquely qualified to lead Keep America Beautiful
and accelerate our important work in communities across the country.
4. “I have great respect for Keep America Beautiful, its mission and its powerful affiliate
network embedded in thousands of communities across the country,” said Jehn. “This
organization plays a pivotal role in keeping communities beautiful while reducing waste
and increasing recycling. I look forward to working closely with its board, its affiliate
network and all the volunteers who dedicate their time and energy to our mission.”
5. KAB has started 2014 with several impressive grant opportunities for our Affiliates
These include the recycling bin grants from Dr. Pepper/Snapple, a paint donation grant
from Dow Coating Materials, a gardening grant, Taking Root, from Troy-Bilt and the
popular Cigarette Litter Prevention Program grants from Altria. More will be coming.
6. In last year’s round of DP/S bin grants, Arkansas State Parks scored a nice grant that
provided 20 handsome recycling bins, which were placed in four State Park locations.
These aid recycling in parks while reminding visitors to keep our state clean and green.
7. The KAB National Conference, February 3-5 in Charlotte, NC, is an extremely full
one. All sessions will offer choices of three breakouts, and all conference meals will
feature awards, speakers and program reviews. We all expect three days of concentrated
and stimulating education; we’ll share the experience in reports during the March
meeting.
8. Arkansas will again be well represented in receiving KAB National Awards during the
conference. The Saline County Regional Solid Waste Management District will receive a
Community Improvement Award, Second Place/Beautification. And, two National
Youth Awards will be presented: Project/First Place: 2012-13 Gravette Fourth Grade
GATE Class; and Individual/Second Place: Evan Hurley of Bryant. Congratulations to
all!
9. We will receive our ninth President’s Circle of Excellence Award: a fourth Diamond
Level. This is the highest level; we graduated to it after receiving five Gold Levels. We’re
one of only nine KAB State Affiliates to receive Diamond Level recognition.
10. And, of course, March will begin the Great American Cleanup in Arkansas. The GAC
team is already on-game and organizing its management, the Youth Poster Contest and
other elements of the annual KAB campaign to promote it to our communities.
11. Also, it pleases me to report that Liz has been named by KAB to a special 12 member
GAC Task Force which will be evaluating the program and offering improvements to its
functional and promotional elements. Congrats Liz!
12. Reorganization is in store for our state’s second oldest Certified KAB Affiliate, Hot
Springs/Garland County Beautification Commission. Both city and county governments
have significantly reduced funding to the organization requiring it to study options in
order to sustain and continue operations.
13. As you are aware, HSGCBC predates even Keep Arkansas Beautiful, consistently
garnered national and state recognition for its programs and impact on the community.
We are hopeful this valuable resource can be reinvigorated and continue its service.
14. Keep Jacksonville Beautiful has named a new managing director. Jim Moore will
lead the affiliate succeeding Charlie Jenkins, who, with his wife, plans on undertaking
missionary work for their Church.
15. Our own very successful 2013 Great Arkansas Cleanup again produced outstanding
participation - 30 % more events - and gratifying results – more than 25,000 volunteer
hours. Impressive numbers and their impact will be shared at the January meeting.
16. Also during the meeting, we will need to establish our 2014 meeting calendar and
set the 2014 Commissioner stipend, currently at $70 per meeting. Plus, we will need to
select our official representatives to the Governor’s Conference on Tourism, March 9-11,
in Rogers. During the November meeting, several expressed great interest in attending.
17. One consideration to discuss is holding our March Commission meeting March 12th
immediately following the conference. By meeting in Rogers after the conference, we
can make optimal use of travel expenses, as those attending need only to make one
round trip to participate in both events.
18. Plus, by consolidating Commissioner Travel expenses, we can also enable greater
attendance and participation during the conference by our Commission, thus providing
expanded opportunities to interact with our community tourism leaders across the state.
19. The minutes of the November meeting and the December 31, 2013 financial report is
being sent electronically. Likewise, the Litter Hotline report and ABA NCSA quarterly
report will also be furnished in advance.
20. We look forward to seeing you Wednesday, January 22, 2014 at 9:00 am, in the
State Parks Conference Room, around the corner from our offices, on the fourth floor of
the BIG MAC building. Safe travel.