OMNI Community Credit Union has been awarded the prestigious superior rating of 5 stars from Bauer Financial.  Bauer is an independent firm that has been rating financial institutions, based on soundness and stability, since 1983.  With this rating, OMNI is one of the top rated institutions in Southwest Michigan.

“It’s really an honor to be awarded with the superior rating.  We work hard to make sure our members know they can trust us with their finances,” said Ted Parsons, OMNI CEO.

OMNI Community Credit Union has over 33,000 members across SW Michigan with $245 million in assets. For two consecutive years, OMNI has given a Cashback Rebate of nearly $1.4 million dollars to say thank you to members. The credit union continually reinvests in its membership and the communities they serve with new branches, some of the area's best interest rates on loans and savings accounts, no fee checking, low fees, over 28,000 free ATMs, OMNI scholarships and is involved in over 40 community events annually. Anyone in Southwest Michigan can bank with OMNI. To find out how you can join, call 866-OMNI-WOW or visit www.omnicommunitycu.org.

If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview, please call Ted Parsons at 269-441-1400 ext. 1402 or email him at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

CHILDREN'S ART CAMP at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts:

The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts is a nonprofit art museum and school. Since 1924, the institute has offered art classes and free-admission programming, including exhibitions, lectures, events, activities and a permanent collection. The KIA's mission is to cultivate the creation and appreciation of the visual arts for the communities of West Michigan.

While other summer camps tend to close in July, the Kirk Newman Art School offers summer art camps in August! Space is still available to register your little Picasso in a variety of age-appropriate camps.

Finding Inspiration in the Museum
Ages 4-Kindergarten:
Summer campers will be inspired by the current exhibition: On Paper: The Lincoln Center /List Art Collection. Students will tour the exhibition with an informative discussion lead by their teachers. Campers will then return to the art studios to pursue their two- and three-dimensional artistic endeavors. Each session will present a different creative process, giving students the opportunity to attend more than one camp. All materials are provided.

Please be sure to enroll your child in the grade level he or she will be entering in the fall of 2010.

GRADES 1- 5
This Art Camp schedule is designed for a full day's experience. Each session is one week, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a supervised one-hour lunch period. Please send a sack lunch with your child each day. As an option, students may attend the morning session or the afternoon session only. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional media will be explored. Two-dimensional media will include drawing, painting, and printmaking; three-dimensional media will include clay and other sculptural materials. Children will be separated into age groups, allowing teachers to structure classes based on skill level and maturity.

YOUNG ARTISTS MULTI-MEDIA ART CAMP
Ages 11-16:
This camp will provide a unique opportunity for young artists to work with a variety of faculty members. Each teacher will share the fundamentals and techniques of their 2- or 3-dimensional medium. The session is one week, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a supervised one-hour lunch period. Please provide a lunch for your student each day. Three-dimensional media will include ceramics, sculpture, jewelry, and glass. Two-dimensional media will include drawing, painting, photography and printmaking.

For more information and to register, please click here, or call (269) 349-7775 ext. 3101.

KVCC will provide two of the presenters at a three-day summit designed to chart a course that would make the Great Lakes region an economic power because of its wind-energy potential.

Cindy Buckley, executive director of training at the M-TEC that is home to the KVCC Wind Turbine Technician Academy, will be on a panel that looks at the skilled labor needed to construct offshore wind farms and maintain the giant turbines that are clustered there.

Her presentation is planned for 10:45 a.m. on Tuesday, July 20, on the second day of “Freshwater Wind 2010: Building the Successful Business Case for Offshore Wind Development in the Great Lakes” that will be held in Cleveland. 

Tom Sutton, the academy’s instructional manager, will speak on “Servicing Offshore Turbines.” In addition to the technological considerations in operating and maintaining offshore turbines, he’ll address safety-training requirements on Wednesday, July 21, at 3:15 p.m.

The keynote speaker will be U. S. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

Conference planners are bringing together developers, equipment manufacturers, suppliers, legislators, financiers, and other stakeholders who believe that wind energy, because it is the fastest-growing industry in North America, could be the force that leads to billions of dollars of investment and restores the economic might of the Great Lakes region.

Across this part of the United States, major developments are being proposed to take advantage of some of the most reliable and strongest wind resources in the world.

Several sessions over the three days will address the specific topic of tapping those resources by developing the offshore wind industry that is still in its infancy.  Brown will look at the challenges and opportunities for doing that.

Another session is titled “Mother Nature: Assessing the Environmental Impact of Offshore Wind Development in the Great Lakes.” Also on the agenda is a presentation that looks at “preemptive strategies used to address the most frequently encountered concerns raised by local communities” and ways “to increase public acceptance.” A wind-assessment study that focused on Lake Michigan is another topic.

Buckley's audience will hear about KVCC’s second wind-turbine academy that started 26 weeks of intensive training on June 12.  This class includes a female, three students from western states, and 11 from Michigan.

The first-of-its-kind training academy in the nation received 90 applications for the 16 slots.  Six of those applicants have been accepted into the academy’s third edition scheduled to begin in January.

The academy graduated its first 16 technicians in April. Twelve of them have already been hired for state and global jobs, while the other four are being recruited.

Class No. 2 hails from Kalamazoo, Greenville, Clawson, Port Sanilac, Zeeland, Marcellus and Battle Creek in Michigan, along with Marana and Casa Grande in Arizona, and Carbondale in Colorado. 

The first female accepted into the program hails from New York. The other midwesterner calls Waukegan, Ill., home. Students from Pennsylvania and Kentucky will fill spots in January.

The academy received a $550,000 federal appropriation to purchase specialized laboratory equipment, including a 90-foot tower and turbine-unit platform that are scheduled to be installed in the M-TEC’s parking median for training purposes this summer.

Only KVCC’s program is certified by Bildungszentrum fur Erneuerebare Energien (BZEE) in the United States.  Its English equivalent is “Renewable Energy Education Center.” 
 
Located in Husum, Germany, and founded in 2000, BZEE was created and supported by major wind-turbine manufacturers, component makers, and enterprises that provide operation and maintenance services. As wind-energy production increased throughout Europe, the need for high-quality, industry-driven, international standards emerged. BZEE has become the leading trainer for wind-turbine technicians across Europe and now in Asia.

An educational partnership with Fuhrlaender North America, based in North Kingston, R. I., and Fuhrlaender AG, its parent corporation in Germany, gives KVCC academy students the chance for in-depth exposure to the maintenance requirements and hands-on monitoring of utility-scale wind turbines, and to cutting-edge software.

Fuhrlaender AG and its global family of branch companies are among the world leaders in the wind industry. They offer a wide range of equipment and are currently manufacturing turbines ranging from producing 600 kilowatts to 2.5 megawatts. The company’s growth in the world market includes plans for several manufacturing facilities in the United States. 

Additional program support is the result of collaboration with the Michigan firm of Crystal Flash Renewable Energy L.L.C. That allows academy trainees to work with professional wind-turbine technicians as active participants in both preventive and corrective maintenance.
Headquartered in Grand Rapids, Crystal Flash Renewable Energy owns two wind turbines in Mackinaw City at the top of the state*s Lower Peninsula. 

The first step to gain access into the next academy is to complete the written application, which can be downloaded at this web site - www.kvcc.edu/training.  Applications can be mailed or faxed to the college. 

“Wind Academy II” will conclude with a Dec. 10 graduation ceremony.
 
A math test is also part of the screening process, along with the results of a medical examination and documented work experience in technical fields. 

The last step in the application process is a screening for an ability to function in tight quarters and work at great heights.

The fee is $12,000.

For more information, contact Buckley at (269) 353-1250 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . A video about the program is available at http://www.mteckvcc.com/windtechacademy.html

ONE Place at Kalamazoo Public Library Workshops, Resources and Announcements

July 21 Nonprofit Consultants & Trainers (NC&T) Network
KPL Oshtemo Branch– 10:15 to 11:45 am
Consultants and trainers working with nonprofit organizations in Kalamazoo County meet to: network; build their skills; and support the efforts of ONEplace and local nonprofit organizations. July’s topic: facilitation skills continues. Bring your tips and tricks to share. Target audience: Independent consultants and trainers with significant expertise in their chosen fields who work full- or part-time in the nonprofit sector. Bobbe A. Luce, ONEplace director, facilitates. Register Online

July 27 Developing a Planned Giving Marketing Plan (Webinar)
KPL Board Room - 1:00 to 2:30 pm - Free of Charge - Max. 18
Learn how to develop an integrated planned giving marketing plan that will help you increase gift income and improve your overall program performance. Topics: identifying your best planned giving prospects; segmenting direct response marketing; using wealth information. Presented by Timothy D. Logan, ACFRE, VP and senior consultant with RuffaloCODY, for AFP. Target audience: EDs and development staff at mid-level (3-6 years) or senior-level (7-9 years) experience. Register Online

Resources
The Michigan League for Human Services’ newly published ‘A Guide to Data in Your Backyard’ includes a variety of data for each county in Michigan…from Kids Count Trends to Tax Dollars at Work; from Trends in Economic Security to general county statistics. These valuable resources can assist nonprofits in planning services and programs that are truly needed in our community as well as helping funders, donors, and governmental units evaluate best use of limited resources.

NonprofitVOTE.org has just launched its 2010 website, a ‘one-stop shop for nonpartisan voter engagement resources for nonprofits…featuring a variety of brand new, interactive tools and information on getting engaged in the 2010 elections.’ NonprofitVOTE partners with the Michigan Nonprofit Association and many other state and national organizations including the National Association of Secretaries of State.

Job Postings 
ONEplace posts nonprofit positions on our bulletin board. If you have an opening, please email a copy of the job description to This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it . If you are looking for a position, please drop by ONEplace to see what is posted. JUST IN: West Michigan Glass Arts Center is accepting applications for the executive director position.

ONEplace guide, ‘How to Post Jobs at Local Universities and Colleges’ is available as a link on our website. It includes directions for seeking interns and employees through area educational institutions.

 Pirates Island Invites You to Become a Buccaneer Club Member and Save Annually!

The Buccaneer Club Membership is a year long discount card to offer you and your family annual fun and savings! Enjoy slides, the arcade, swimming, the lazy river, pirate ship, volleyball, basketball, swim lessons and much more.

Pay a one time fee of $20 per family per year and the Pirates Island Buccaneer Club Member Discount Card includes:

• $1 off General Admission for Friends and Family (no other discounts will apply)
• Special Club Rates: Mothers Club, Single Parents Club and Homes School Club
• Access to Monthly Specials
• Five percent off Birthday Party Room Package
• Five percent off Pirates Island Summer Fun Day Camp Weekly Rate
• Workshops: Buy one hour for $12; get an additional hour at half price (must be booked at the same time)
• End of the year drawing for four families of four; one year unlimited membership to Pirates Island
• End of the year Vacation give away valued at $2,500
• More Fun Prizes to be Announced!

For more information contact Kelly Hume at (269) 544-1000 or This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it .

The Black Arts & Cultural Center Presents The 25th Black Arts Festival
 
It doesn’t matter what your cultural background is you’ll enjoy the unique talents being showcased during the 25th Black Arts Festival July 26, through August 1, 2010. 

These Free Festival Events:

• kick off on Monday, July 26, with Storytelling at the Kalamazoo Central Library in downtown Kalamazoo at 6:30 p.m.

• Tuesday, July 27, Poetry Writing Workshop at Noon & Poetry Reading at 6:30 p.m. and

• the Mini Film Festival on Wednesday, July 28, from Noon to 8:00 p.m. 

• On Thursday, July 29, we move to the Arcadia Creek Festival Site for a Free Children’s Day Event for kids 12 years old and under. Activities include: face painting, carnival games (hosted by the Boys & Girls Club of Kalamazoo), instrument petting zoo (hosted by the Kalamazoo Symphony), free lunch, live entertainment and free ice cream provided by Marion’s Ice Cream.

• Thursday evening we offer a free Family Movie Night featuring, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meat Balls”, which will begin at dusk at the Arcadia Creek Festival Site. 

• On Friday, July 30, we will host our annual Artist Invitational at the Gayle Sydnor Gallery located in the Black Arts & Cultural Center in the Epic Center in downtown Kalamazoo.  Friday will also kick off our Festival in Park at the festival site with arts & crafts and food vendors and Live Entertainment with Smooth Jazz Friday, and Old School Saturday, featuring the world renowned ZAPP Band. Added this year will be live Jazz music during the lunch hour on Friday, Noon to 1:00 p.m. entrance to the park is Free at this time. 

• On Sunday, Aug. 1, we host Gospel in the Park, featuring Grammy nominated Sheri Jones-Moffet.