BBJ Continues to Serve Job Seekers

Last fall, Businesspersons Between Jobs (BBJ) celebrated its 40th anniversary of assisting those in our community who are in job transition.

BBJ provides tools, resources and support required to assist its members in their search for employment.

Over the last year, attendance at weekly meetings continued to decline as the recession eased. Early in 2012, attendance averaged from 40 to 50 while later in the year attendance averaged about 25 to 35 members.

Meanwhile members of the BBJ LinkedIn group continue to grow and we are currently reaching 2,026 persons via this important social media platform. The BBJ group shares resources and ideas through LinkedIn and helps members connect with others on LinkedIn.

Fortunately, even though the economy remained sluggish and the local unemployment rate high, a significant number of our members found jobs in 2012.

While good news about employment, the declining membership numbers has tightened the BBJ revenues and makes it somewhat difficult to provide services to those still in need.

So, last October, BBJ held its first “annual” fundraising breakfast event at the Corner Pub & Grill. BBJ would like to thank Doreen for her role in organizing the event and a big thank you to the Men’s Fellowship & spouses for their support of this fundraiser.

And the BBJ Organization extends a very special thanks to the St. Mark Board of Deacons, the Endowment Committee and the Session for their very generous financial and spiritual support. Without this special financial assistance, we would not have been able to reach out to provide services to those without a job.

BBJ continues to be blessed with many dedicated and knowledgeable volunteers who give freely of their time and talents to insure that our organization provides an effective support base for our membership. We are thankful to all of the following people for their efforts in helping us accomplish our mission:

• The BBJ Board of Directors: Steve Drake, Glen Keely, Dick Wallace, Jack Martin, Roger Stoll, Mike McCarty and Victoria Wors. 
• The many volunteers/consultants who are present on most Mondays: Bernie Landau, Karen Gabriel, Mike McCarty, Jack Martin, Victoria Wors, Dick Wallace, Fred Conrad, Dale Birkbeck and Ron Lares. 
• BBJ Executive Assistant: Doreen Manhal who lines up all of our Monday morning speakers and keeps us all organized. 
• Pastor Steve Ranney for his weekly prayers and continuing support. 
• All of the wonderful presenters (too numerous to list) that so graciously speak and share their expertise with us each Monday. 

As the year closed, the Board approved two changes effective on 1-1-13: 

• Mike McCarty will become our new Executive Director 
• Jack Martin will become our new Board President 

On a sad note, George Fish, who served as Executive Director of BBJ for 12 years (1998-2010) passed away on May 26th. George was an excellent leader and supporter of BBJ and has certainly been missed by all that knew him.