Happy New Year to all! The start of a new year always makes me feel like I've got a chance to make a fresh start, to address all my responsibilities with renewed vigor. This includes my new responsibility as President this year. Along with the other hard-working Board Members, we' ll make this the best year ever.

My special thanks to Barb Prinz, our Past President, for being a strong and dedicated leader during the year 2000. Barb and I have worked closely together over the past year, and I know she'll continue to work hard for the Society this year as well.

Recap of 2000 --During the past year, the Society has worked hard to continue existing programs while initiating other new activities. At our three dinner meetings (February, September, and November) and our all-day seminar (May), we heard some great speakers. Remember Steven Brantner? Maggie Hughes? Gareth Heibert? Kathy Brown? Susan Oberman-Smith? Dr. Bill Warner? These and many others helped to make our meetings valuable for each of us. We worked on the website to make it a useful tool for our members. Plus many of us had fun attending the St. Paul Saints Baseball Games. And we're especially proud to have created the new scholarship program, allowing us to recognize and reward a deserving college student.

Goals of 2001 --We're once again planning to review the Society's Constitution and Bylaws to ensure that they are the best reflection of what our Society is all about. Work on the scholarship and website will continue. We'll also be taking a new look at opportunities for volunteerism among members. And, of course, we'll be planning a great spring seminar and super dinner meetings.

February Meeting -- I am really looking forward to our February meeting at the Sheraton Four Points Hotel, Minneapolis. Our speaker will be Patrick D. McGowan, Sheriff of Hennepin County. (Be sure to see his biography elsewhere in this newsletter.)

Are you wondering "Why should I attend to hear what he has to say?" Well, I happen to know Patrick, and I'll start by saying that I KNOW he'll offer us a great presentation that evening. Among other topics, he'll be talking about how YOU can have an impact on what goes on over at the State Legislature. Since the financial services industry is so affected by legislation and regulation, that should a pertinent discussion for us all. He'll also talk about ways you can make a difference in your community. And I'm sure Sheriff McGowan will have some interesting stories to offer as well.

We'll also be collecting donations for the Cancer Kids Fund to benefit the Children's Hospitals. And I'd like to remind all Associate Members that they're invited to attend this meeting as well by paying the same cost as for Members.

One more quick note. Due to space and time limitations, details of the 2001 budget, plus budget and expenses for 2000, will be included in the next edition of this newsletter.

Your comments and suggestions are welcome -- and we're always looking for folks who are interested in helping us to make the Society even better. I hope your Year 2001 is safe, healthy, and prosperous!

Julie Hanson, FLMI, ACS, AIAA

President, FLMI Society of the Twin Cities

Contact your Company Representative to make dinner reservations.

Sheriff Patrick D. McGowan heads one of Minnesota's largest law enforcement organizations. The Hennepin County Sheriff's Office serves the public safety needs of 1.2 million residents. Nearly 800 licensed and civilian personnel are based in 10 Divisions across Hennepin County. The HCSO has an operating budget of $60 million.

Under Sheriff McGowan's leadership, the physical infrastructure of the HCSO has been rebuilt in a three-tier program including: construction of the first new Hennepin County detention facility since 1905 to be completed in 2001, construction of a new Crime Laboratory in downtown Minneapolis, and a new Water Patrol headquarters built on Lake Minnetonka.

Career Highlights:

• A 20-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department, 1975-1994.
• Minnesota State Senator from 1988-1994 (Assistant Senate Minority Leader, 1990-1994)
• Elected Sheriff in 1994; re-elected in 1998

In addition to his duties as Sheriff, Sheriff McGowan also holds the following positions:

• President - Major County Sheriffs' Association
• Chairman - National Sheriffs' Association Drug Enforcement Committee
• Frequent instructor and guest lecturer on law enforcement issues
• Many others

Sheriff McGowan has a B.S. in Criminal Justice Studies from Mankato State University. He is a decorated veteran of the U.S. Air Force and was also decorated for bravery by the Minneapolis Police Department. He has remained involved with numerous public safety issues throughout his careers as a legislator and a peace officer. He has been a strong proponent of personal accountability and an effective, efficient criminal justice system.

2000 closed with November. s meeting at Jax Caf. Cash plus over 25 pounds of food were collected for the Emergency Food Shelf network, and we continued our generous donation of business clothing items to Dress for Success.

Looking ahead to 2001, Dr Bill Warner presented an enlightening overview of leadership. All members were encouraged to see their own leadership roles and opportunities throughout their many daily activities, and to continually be seeking ways in which we can contribute and recognize our full leadership potential.

FLMI members identified future FLMI Board leaders through a "Guess the Baby Picture" game preceding dinner.

Gift certificate winners were Lisa Quam of Minnesota Life, Lonnie Sievert of Lutheran Brotherhood, and Teresa Schrempp of Lutheran Brotherhood.

• Held four meetings throughout the year. Associate members were invited to the February and November dinner meetings. New FLMIs and a company executive were invited to the September Recognition dinner.
• Collected monetary donations for Kids Cancer Fund (February) and Emergency Foodshelf Network (Nov.) and clothing donations for Ready for Success (May and November).
• Society earned two Outstanding Society Awards, one for Communications/Public Relations and the second for Special Achievement of our 25^th Silver Anniversary celebration.
• Unveiled the Twin Cities website
• First annual scholarship ($500) for children and eligible dependents of FLMI and Associate members.
• Colleen Bruce, daughter of Paul Bruce from American Express, received our first scholarship.
• Offered St. Paul Saints tickets to two games as a social gathering for FLMIs and their families.

I assisted the President with planning, facilitation of Board Meetings, and represented the President at Society events she was unable to attend. I also attended the 2000 LOMA Conference in Orlando, and attended Officers Training Workshop and the Society Committee Meeting during the conference. In addition to the duties of Vice President, I prepared the printed programs for the dinner meetings and for the spring seminar.

I monitored the budget and expenses for the year. I handled the annual membership enrollment, collected member dues, and processed registrations for all meetings. I also made sure that all Society accounts payable were addressed in a timely manner. In addition, I prepared attendee nametags for each of our meetings.

As Secretary, I was responsible for attending all Board Meetings and taking minutes at each of the meetings. In addition to my duties as Secretary, I led the efforts to design and implement our new scholarship program, and participated in the selection of our first scholarship recipient. I also handled the details of our recognition breakfast for Company Educational Representatives, and I initiated a review of the constitution and by-laws.

As Committee Representative, I continued to maintain communications with the LOMA Headquarters in Atlanta. In addition, I helped the Society to stay in touch with the opinions and interests of our local society members by designing and collecting member surveys and summarizing the information gathered.

The Nominating Committee made the following recommendations for the FLMI Society of the Twin Cities Board of Directors: Elected members were unanimously approved at the Fall Recognition Meeting.

Here are the company job lines and websites, along with some specific current job openings:

For more information about these jobs, including the contact persons, call the Job Posting Warehouse committee chair, Mary Smythe (Hartford 763-765-4533). If your company has personnel needs, please encourage your Human Resource Manager to contact us about publishing openings in our newsletter. It works!! We also encourage any comments or ideas about how we can improve this service.