News Announcement
For more information contact Lynne Briggs or Cheryl Kight at
614-469-1950

Columbus, November 2009 

FIRST PLACE BANK HOSTS AREA KICK-OFF OF THE OHIO FOUNDATION OF INDEPENDENT COLLEGES’ 2009-10 ANNUAL CAMPAIGN
Area Goal set at $88,000

Albert P. Blank, President & COO, The First Place Bank, Youngstown, and Chair of The Ohio Foundation of Independent Colleges (OFIC) Mahoning Valley area annual campaign for the second year, hosted the campaign meeting and kick-off on November 4 in the Windsor Room of the Tippecanoe Country Club.   Blank, an OFIC trustee since 2004, welcomed the campaign volunteers and introduced his Vice Chair for the campaign, John Gulas, Chief Operating Officer, Farmers National Bank, and Jeff Wolf, OFIC president.

Wolf thanked the Mahoning Valley area volunteers for their service and commitment to this campaign to help provide career choices and college access for students enrolled at OFIC member independent colleges and universities.   He also emphasized the importance of independent higher education in Ohio to the region’s economic stability and to the state’s future in a changing global economy.  The campaign goal for the area has been set at $88,000.

OFIC corporate volunteers call on current and prospective donors to educate them about and encourage their support of OFIC’s mission to support independent higher education in Ohio.  Approximately 20 representatives of area corporations have volunteered their time to this year’s campaign. 

Wolf then recognized Phillip Dennison of Packer Thomas, an OFIC trustee since 2004, and presented him with the OFIC 2008-2009 Volunteer of the Year award.  Dennison served as the Mahoning Valley Chair for the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 campaigns.

All of the 98,000 students enrolled at OFIC member colleges, which include Franciscan University of Steubenville, Hiram College, Malone University, Mount Union College, and Walsh University, will benefit from funds raised through OFIC’s campaign.   Eighty-seven students at these five local institutions have directly received scholarships through OFIC’s Ohio Scholars Program for the 2009-10 academic year, and 2,174 students from the Mahoning Valley campaign area are enrolled at OFIC member colleges and universities across the state.

OFIC is the primary corporate and foundation solicitation organization for 34 independent Ohio colleges and universities and operates one of the largest, most comprehensive and diverse scholarship management services in the state.  OFIC member colleges collectively enroll 98,000 students and award one-third of all bachelor’s degrees in the state. For 60 years OFIC has worked to highlight the leadership, value and excellence of independent higher education and has provided unrestricted operating funds and scholarship commitments through funds raised in annual solicitations of businesses and foundations, thereby assuring continuation of excellence in private higher education. OFIC is governed by a Board of Trustees comprised of Ohio’s corporate leaders, as well as presidents of the 34 member colleges.

The member colleges are:  Ashland University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Bluffton University, Capital University, Cedarville University, University of Dayton, Defiance College, Denison University, The University of Findlay, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Franklin University, Heidelberg University, Hiram College, John Carroll University, Kenyon College, Lake Erie College, Lourdes College, Malone University, Marietta College, Mount Union College, Mount Vernon Nazarene University, Muskingum University, Notre Dame College, Oberlin College, Ohio Dominican University, Ohio Northern University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Otterbein College, Urbana University, Ursuline College, Walsh University, Wilmington College, Wittenberg University and The College of Wooster.