Chamber Vision January 2014 | Page 24

24 January 2014 Emporia Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention & Visitors Bureau “KEEP 5 IN KANSAS” Campaign Could Result In Millions of Dollars For Lyon and Its Six Contiguous Counties It’s a phenomenon called “The Transfer of Wealth” and what that means is that in Lyon County alone in the years 2010-2020, $845 million will transfer through estates from one generation to the next. The transfer of wealth figure for the other six counties during that same time period is nearly $1.4 billion (Chase - $81.4m; Coffey $262.5m; Greenwood - $208.5m; Morris - $158m; Osage $494.5m; Wabaunsee - $184.3m). On one hand that’s good news in that the monies being transferred are staying within the family. On the other hand, a great deal of that money being transferred is in fact leaving local communities and in many instances leaving the state of Kansas, because younger family members are moving away from home. According to a recently updated Transfer of Wealth study by Wichita State University, $79 billion will be transferred by 2020 in Kansas and that figure will grow to $598 billion by 2064. The Emporia Community Foundation (ECF) has joined the 70 other community foundations in Kansas in a new program called “Keep 5 In Kansas” which means finding a way to keep five percent of the wealth being transferred in Kansas, preserved and invested in communities across the state. If that can be done before 2020, up to $4 billion would be kept and utilized in communities statewide and in Lyon County alone, that figure would be $42 million. For the other six counties that figure would total $69.5 million. can you ensure that the things that make your community unique and the things you love continue to exist long after you’ve gone? So how do we go about “Keeping 5 In Kansas”? Think for a moment about what matters most to you. Is it the church where you worship or the schools your children or grandchildren attend? Are you concerned with the parks where kids play or is it a local charity that you care deeply about? Is your passion higher education or supporting the local hospital? How Here’s how Earl Sauder, a respected business owner, now deceased, chose to keep a portion of his good fortune in the Emporia area. Mr. Sauder reached out to ECF and established a fund to be used for a variety of charitable causes in the community. Since the establishment of this fund in 2000 the generosity of the Sauder Fund has benefited ten charitable