It's a Great Day in the City of Lancaster Fund (GDCLF)

David Carlson Introduction

Bob Johnson, the greatest hockey coach the UW has ever seen, had an expression - “It’s a great day for hockey.”  Because to Bob, every day was a great day for Hockey.  

Well, today, like every day, is a Great Day in the City of Lancaster.

Many people and families have made gifts to the City over the decades that have made the City the better.  The Hillary Auditorium, Hospital expansions, the new pool, the Dog park, benches in the downtown, trail development at Lancaster Trail, the Library, and many, many, more.  Sue and Bruce Fritz have had a part in many of those things.

 Several months ago, Bruce came to me with the idea of making a donation to the City for the purpose of economic development.  A gift that would be the start of a permanent, continuing opportunity of funding to develop and grow the city that they have given so much too.  Since that time, Sue, Bruce, my wife Dominique and I have met to discuss and flesh out what that might look like.  

With that as the background, I am pleased to introduce Sue and Bruce Fritz, and the It’s a Great Day in the City of Lancaster Fund.

 Bruce and Sue Fritz Presentation

We have been blessed to grow up in SW Wisconsin and have lived here in Lancaster for most of our lives.  We have raised our family, and with my brother David, grown Tricor to one of the largest independent insurance agencies in the Midwest - and all of it based here.

Our business, like the many other businesses here in the City, have helped the community grow and prosper.  We want to do our part to see that continue, even as we retire from active participation in the family business

While meeting with David and Dominique to discuss this opportunity, it was clear that the lack of housing was holding back the growth of the City.  Job opportunities we have - new employees we don’t.  And a key issue to attract and keep new employees is Housing.   Housing for new medical professionals, teachers, employees at Foremost, Amcor, Saputo, and all of the rest that help make Lancaster a Great City.  Housing, or more specifically lack of housing, has hurt our existing businesses, and impacted their growth.  And once housing is developed, then we continue to grow, expand, and attract new businesses.

With that background, we propose to make a donation to the City in the amount of $1,000,000 to start the It’s a Great Day in the City of Lancaster Fund. 

The intent of this donation is threefold:

First, the fund will engage in activities that encourage or enable business start-up, development, or expansion, with a focus on businesses that provide family supporting jobs, primarily full-time employment, with benefits including health, vacation, and retirement. 

Second, the fund will invest in activities that, overall, are designed to replenish and maintain the original Donation.  While not all activities are expected to return capital to the Donation, it is the expectation of the Donor that the Lancaster will manage the Donation to replenish the Donation, to the extent practicable.

Finally, the fund will invest in activities within the corporate limits of Lancaster, including the purchase of land for the use of business or residential development.  Such purchase of land shall be annexed to Lancaster before development on such land occurs.

We expect the first activities to address the housing need in the community, to support existing businesses to bring in new employees.  Following that, the investments will focus on manufacturing, both agricultural and general manufacturing, professional service firms, and supporting free-lance, distance, and remote workers.

A key to this Fund will be the Public/Private partnership.  Like the hotel development - both the City and the Private investors had to work together to make it happen.  It was not just the investors, nor just the City - it was both.  That is how we envision the use of this Fund.  By itself, the GDCLF will not be enough.  Private partners will need to step up with significant investments of time and money.

And finally, our contribution does not need to be the only one to the Great Day in the City of Lancaster Fund.  Because we know many families like ours that have also been blessed by the community and want to return that blessing.  This fund, once established, can provide the means for other families to join ours in giving back, and help making Every Day a Great Day in the City of Lancaster.

We are super excited for this fund to achieve great things.  Thank you.

Sue and Bruce Fritz