Apex Center Inc.

Thursday, July 27, 2000

Apex Center Inc. is getting a name change to go with its new official board of directors.

The entire Apex Austin group isn’t changing its name, only the part dealing with the proposed welcome center. The new name is Welcome Center Inc.

Welcome Center board of directors chairwoman Bonnie Tangren said the name change came about because of the confusion in the community between the Apex Austin group as a whole and the subcommittee in charge of the welcome center. Tangren is one of the three Apex Center committee members to be a part of the new board of directors that will be responsible for overseeing the center and its director.

"The really big Apex isn’t a 501-C3 (a non-profit)," Tangren said, "It’s an organizational group. We are (a non-profit organization)."

Welcome Center Inc. also got a mission statement from its new board of directors. It is to "connect newcomers to the resources, information and assistance that will facilitate their becoming part of our community." Tangren stressed that the center is going to serve all newcomers to Austin.

The chairwoman is pleased with the latest developments in the nearly eight-month project.

"It’s nice to really be into the nuts and bolts of the center," Tangren said. "We’re at a point where I feel like I can see this will actually be a reality. We need a director and a location – then we really can begin to make a difference."

The new board is not in charge of the search for a director for the welcome center, however; a subcommittee of the Apex Center committee has been conducting the search. Headed by committee co-chair Joni Finnegan, the subcommittee will be interviewing candidates for the $40,000 to $60,000 position the week of Aug. 14. Once the subcommittee makes a recommendation, that then would be passed on to the board for its approval or disapproval. Tangren is hoping the director will be in place by September.

"Once we have a real place and a real face, we can begin to respond to the realistic needs of the community," Tangren said.

Tangren will chair the 12-person board, and is joined on the executive committee by secretary Mary Anne Wolesky, who is director of hospital nursing services at Austin Medical Center, First Congregational minister Jim Peck as treasurer and Sally Baker, office manager of McFarland Trucking, as the at-large director.

Other board members include the following: John Morrison, business representative for Local 9; Ardis Knutson, interim director of the Blooming Prairie Center; Kmart manager Dan Hewitt; LAWCO principal-in-charge David Crandall; Parenting Resource Center Director Maryanne Law; Quality Pork Processors Inc. supervisor Miguel Garate; Nghia Nguyen, court translator and interpreter for Vietnamese; and Pat Ray, businesswoman.

In addition to the search for a director for the center, Welcome Center Inc. is still looking for a suitable location for the center as well as suitable funding from a variety of stakeholders.