BUCHANAN — Over gourmet appetizers and drinks, more than two dozen organization leaders from Cass County and southern Berrien County learned about a Michigan Gateway Community Foundation strategic plan a year in the making on Wednesday, Sept. 25 at Orchard Hills Country Club at 2841 Niles-Buchanan Road in Niles Charter Township.

At the inaugural yearly community update meeting, foundation president and CEO Rob Habicht announced his planned retirement in September 2020 and the foundation’s succession and strategic plans being created in the meantime.

“We wanted, purposely, to take it slow, take it logically, make decisions based on good examination and review of things,” Habicht said after the meeting.

Habicht has led Michigan Gateway Community Foundation, located at 111 Days Ave. in Buchanan, since he joined in 2001.

The foundation is currently developing a profile of an ideal candidate they would like to hire. Then, the foundation’s search committee will open the search in December.

Once a candidate is brought on in 2020, Habicht will stay on staff as a consultant for a few additional months.

Habicht said the organization’s strategic plan and his own job description have not changed much since he was hired, so the foundation is updating both ahead of the December search.

“In a nutshell, our intent is that our board and our CEO start off on the same page,” he said about the strategic plan.

The revised plan will not directly change the programs the foundation funds. It will continue to focus on awarding grants and scholarships to southern Berrien County and Cass County residents and organizations with an emphasis on education.

“We’re not just going to give money to youth, but we are going to focus on that,” he said. “They are our future. When you’re going to make communities stronger, it’s a long-term proposition. Not a lot of stuff happens overnight, and we’re here forever, so we can a long-term look at how we want to do things.”

Among its education initiatives are 45 scholarship funds from donors and the Buchanan Promise, which grants up to $10,000 in post-secondary scholarship funds to Buchanan Community Schools graduates that live in the district and spent at least ninth to 12th grade at Buchanan High School.

As the foundation prepares for its leadership transition, it will also work to create new committees that are filled with sought-after volunteer members.

Those committees are in finance, board development, fund development, marketing, Youth Advisory Council assistance and grants and scholarships.

Habicht said the marketing committee is among the most needed, and he hopes to find a team similar to a previous committee he had.

“We put together a marketing team just for the [Buchanan] Promise, and it was wildly successful,” he said. “They did a fantastic job. We never employed that kind of thing in the past. They are very, very much responsible for the success when we got started with the Promise.”

He is also looking forward to assembling the Youth Advisory Council committee, whose adult members will assist the youth group which provides insight on potential educational ventures to the foundation.

“That’s one of the most fulfilling things we do,” he said.

The next phase of the foundation’s succession plan begins in December, when it will launch and monitor its leadership search.