Advisory Council Meeting

2022 SPJST Advisory Council Meeting

Summary of the 2022 SPJST Advisory Council Meeting via Webcast ● May 7, 2022

The SPJST Advisory Council was established as the result of the corporate governance by-law provisions that were approved by delegates at the 2021 SPJST Convention. That provision appears as Article 11 in our current bylaws:

ARTICLE XI SPJST ADVISORY COUNCIL Section 57. Convention delegates shall serve as members of the SPJST Advisory Council between conventions. SPJST Advisory Council members shall serve on a volunteer basis and meet annually each spring with the Executive Committee with the objective of keeping the SPJST Advisory Council members engaged and responsive in matters relating to the growth and development of SPJST.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = Opening of the Meeting

The meeting opened with a prayer led by Vice President of Sales and Marketing Delisle Doherty.

*Executive Committee Participating in the Meeting Along with Advisory Council members, participating in the webcast were SPJST Board of Directors - Board Chairman/District Three Director John Engelke; Board Vice Chairman/District One Director Donnie Victorick; District Two Director Jesse Pospisil; District Four Director Bobby Davis; District Five Director Bradley Stavinoha; District Six Director Annie Vahalik; and District Seven Director Regina House. Executive Officers - President/CEO Brian Vanicek; Vice President of Sales and Marketing Delisle Doherty; Vice President of Communications Melanie Zavodny; Chief Financial Officer Leonard Mikeska; and Controller Roy Vajdak. * As a result of actions taken by delegates to the 2021 Convention, the directors and officers are now collectively referred to as the SPJST Executive Committee. Previously the term “Supreme Lodge” was assigned to that body.

The following elements were addressed during the meeting:

➛ SPJST’s financial performance ➛ Review of SPJST’s investment performance ➛ SPJST sales and marketing initiatives achieved in 2021 and what to expect in the year ahead ➛ Review of SPJST’s fraternal engagement initiatives in 2021 along with some priorities in 2022 ➛ Overview of camp initiatives which were achieved in 2021 as well as some projections for the current year

Controller Roy Vajdak’s Report

The past year – 2021 – truly has been a turning point for SPJST in a lot of ways - a lot of positive ways. So many of the issues that SPJST had to deal with in the preceding years have been eliminated. I’ll give you a couple of examples:

Going back to 2011, our internal accounting controls identified that SPJST’s universal life program was improperly crediting surplus payments to a number of accounts. Chief Financial Officer Leonard Mikeska worked diligently on this issue. While the crediting impacted membership in a positive way, the end result is that it necessitated that SPJST recompensate the Internal Revenue Service approximately $1.1 million. That resulted in a direct hit to surplus.

Later, in 2016, our internal controls identified an actuarial flaw in the cash reserves set aside for SPJST’s Term 4 Life plan. That resulted in an additional $1.6 million that had to be reassigned from our unallocated surplus to reserves.

In 2019, SPJST wisely made the decision to relieve its investment portfolio of some longstanding problem issues in equities and bonds. Equities had been carried on our books at fair market value. When those investments were jettisoned, that resulted in a substantial $2.5 million hit to net income. That impact was partially offset because we were able to relieve surplus of our unreserved losses. Unrecognized losses in this area had amounted to about $2.7 million so that resulted in a net increase to surplus of $200,000.

More recently, in 2020, a $2 million spike in death claims negated what would have otherwise been a good year for SPJST. I believe it’s important that you know these kinds of things. It reflects well on the current team for taking the necessary actions to right the course for SPJST. The 2021 annual statement, I am happy to say, reflects the positive direction we are progressing. Rather than playing “clean up,” the emphasis is squarely focused on investing in the business end of operations.

I’d like to share some numbers now. What I’ve done is construct charts in such a way as to illustrate the four most recent years of activity along with the results posted from our first quarter 2022 statement. In that way, I believe you can get a more visual representation of the trends and where they may be leading.

I will start with Total Society Assets. Total society assets increased from $243 million in 2018 to $250 million in 2021. As of March 31, 2022, our society assets stand at almost $256 million. That’s a substantial increase over where we were in 2018.

Next, I’ll move on to General Operating Expenses. You can see that general operating expenses have declined from $3.2 million in 2017 to $2.8 million in 2021. This is due to the Home Office focusing on reducing expenses where we can and on a reduction of staff.

The next two charts, respectively, illustrate the Death and Annuity Benefits

Total Society Assets

General Operating Expenses

Unallocated Surplus

Net Investment Income

that SPJST has paid to members over the past five years. You can see that in death claims, we were consistent in paying more than $3.5 million to members in 2017 to 2019. However, in 2020 and 2021, we saw a substantial increase by about $2 million in our death claims.

Annuity benefits are consistent at about $10 million-plus per year. However, in 2021, we saw an increase due to the special offer on annuities that was made to some of our members.

Now, let’s take a look at an Unallocated Surplus. Unallocated surplus is basically the retained earnings of the SPJST. You’ll see that our unallocated surplus has declined from $16.8 million in 2018 to $13.2 million in 2021.

On a positive note, as of March 31, 2022, unallocated surplus had increased back to $14.1 million.

As the Unallocated Surplus illustration shows, the surplus numbers reflect the corrective actions taken in recent years. The slight decline in unallocated surplus for the year 2021 can be attributed to two items:

First, SPJST made an investment in the software that now enables SPJST sales agents to take and submit all SPJST life and annuity applications online. That $344,000 business development product shows up as a non-admitted asset on our balance sheet. Additionally, SPJST’s commercial mortgage portfolio expanded in 2019, necessitating that an additional $274,000 be set aside in reserves. Collectively, these two items accounted for approximately $600,000 which resulting in a slight decline in surplus at year-end. You will also want to note that through the first quarter of 2022, we are reporting a net gain in surplus of approximately $960,000 which can be attributed primarily to investment income and first-year premium income.

On a related note, here’s a chart that illustrates Net Investment Income, revealing some very positive trends in this area. Brian will be elaborating more on this in our investment section of today’s meeting. The turnaround here should be very apparent. You can see that net investment income was in the high $9 million range, in 2018 to 2020. In 2021, our net investment income increased to $11.3 million. As of March 31, 2022, we’re showing $3.4 million in net investment income. That should result in another increase here in 2022.

If any Advisory Council member would like to receive a digital copy of the SPJST Annual Statement or first quarter report, please send a request to royv@spjst.com, and I’ll be happy to provide you with a complete digital copy of both reports by email.

Chief Financial Officer Leonard Mikeska’s Report Note: President/CEO Brian Vanicek presented the first portion of CFO Mikeska’s report. CFO Mikeska’s comments and overview follow the presentation.

To summarize Controller Vajdak’s presentation, several of SPJST’s key performance indicators showed marked improvements at year-end, namely total assets, premium income, and investment income. And while surplus was down incrementally at year-end, that number, too, has rebounded nicely through the end of the first quarter.

These two sets of numbers — “Death Claims Paid” and “Annuity Payouts” — perhaps more than any others — communicate the important role that SPJST has played for generations of Texas families. The very reason we were chartered and the fundamental reason that we exist . . . and that is to provide financial support to the beneficiaries of our members when they die.

We have lost so many dear members of our fraternal family in recent years, and many of those in 2020 and 2021 were due to Covid. We can never replace a loved one or a friend; however, as fraternal brothers and sisters, we can offer our condolences to the survivors and we can offer our assistance. The $22.5 million in death benefits that SPJST delivered over the past five years most certainly helped to ease the financial burdens of those left behind. And, as the second set of numbers shows, during that same five-year period— from 2017 through 2021—SPJST distributed more than $58 million in annuity benefits to our members. And for the most part, seldom—if ever—do we draw attention to these impressive statistics—even to our own members!

To some, this may sound like a revelation: Since the year 2000, SPJST has delivered more than $68 million in death claims to beneficiaries and close to $190 million in annuity benefits. Collectively, that’s right at $258 million – a quarter of a billion dollars and that’s just since the

year 2000. It speaks well of the strength and fidelity of SPJST. CFO Mikeska conferred with me earlier and requested that I address SPJST’s investment performance for 2021 and to offer some insight into our investment portfolio and how it is being managed.

I want to emphasize the increase of year-end income from 2020 to 2021 from $9.3 million to $11.3 million. That $2 million bump represents an almost 18 percent increase over the preceding year. And none of that relates to gains achieved in the stock market.

Looking back, the events of the past two years generated waves of great uncertainty and anticipation in the marketplace. Covid wreaked havoc throughout 2020.

Recall the global market crash that took began in late February of that year? And while those fears were largely abated by year-end, the market remained in a state of flux. It was stoked routinely by fears of Covid resurgence and compounded the prospects of a coming inflation. Even so, SPJST fared well. The “slow and steady wins the race” strategy prevailed.

Here’s why: High grade corporate bonds played and continue to play the leading roles in SPJST’s diversified securities portfolio. The strategy itself is simple: As a life insurance company, our aim is to invest our members’ premiums in longer-duration, low-risk fixed income assets. That does three things for us:

1. Steady flow of income. 2. Guard against stock market volatility. 3. The ability to take advantage of new opportunities.

First, fixed-income investments provide SPJST with a steady flow of income. Our bond maturation dates are laddered in such a way as to provide the Society with a steady cash flow that enable it to meet its varied obligations.

Second, fixed-income investments offer protection against the whims and volatility of the stock market. This past week - some of you may have noticed the stock market received a thrashing when the Federal Reserve announced that it was hiking the Federal funds rate by a half percentage point. And keep in mind, back in March, the Fed indicated there could be a many as six rate hikes this year.

Thirdly, the laddered structure of our bond portfolio enables us to us take advantage fixed-income investment opportunities that present themselves throughout the year. In recent years, that strategy has also enabled SPJST to take advantage of some great opportunities, including business bridge loans and some select business mortgages.

SPJST’s bond portfolio is very diverse and as of today includes 256 positions which support various US businesses and local governments. There are well-known corporate issues that are included within the portfolio, such as the NAIC Distribution chart shows how our bonds are rated according to the NAIC – National Association of Insurance Commissioners – rating scale.

53.4 percent are NAIC 1s. 45.8 percent are NAIC 2s. And less than one percent are NAIC 3s.

We have no holdings in the NAIC 4, 5 or 6 range. Bonds that are rated NAIC 1 and 2 are considered Investment Grade and are considered the most safe. Bonds which are rated 3, 4, 5, or 6 are considered noninvestment grade and carry a higher degree of risk. The two bonds that we own in the NAIC 3 category are Ford Motor bonds, and they have not presented us with any payment issues nor do we anticipate that they will.

SPJST’s trusted partner in navigating these investment seas is AQS Asset Management of Austin, Texas. AQS has been with us two years, and already, we are seeing impressive results.

Two AQS charts were also shared during the presentation. One chart tracks the 2021 Fixed Income Reinvestment Yield for all fraternal life insurance companies within our size range. And I must say this represents a very broad range – from around $50 million in total assets to around $4 billion in total assets. With assets of $255 million, SPJST is somewhere in the middle. Look closely and you’ll see that for the year 2021, SPJST ranks at the very top of the list with an impressive 5.65 percent yield for the year. This chart was constructed on the basis of data obtained from each fraternal organization’s 2021 Annual Statement.

Another AQS chart speaks well to the recent performance of SPJST’s investments. The slide is titled Portfolio Yield Shift, and it covers the period from 2020 to 2021. It shows how much of an average increase - or decrease- in investment return that each fraternal organization’s portfolio has experienced over the most recent two-year period. On the basis of the blue bars, you can see that only five fraternals have posted an increase in their average rate of return and, once again, SPJST appears at the top of the chart with a gain of 36 basis points. That’s equivalent to a little more than a third of a percentage point. These results

General Operating Expenses SPJST NAIC Distribution

are the result of a very deliberate process. SPJST investments are closely managed according to the guides of an Investment Policy Statement. It’s actually a lot more than a statement. It’s a 10-page agreement between SPJST and AQS which specifies our investment objectives as well as the strategies that AQS should apply in meeting these objectives.

The Executive Committee meets with AQS each quarter and the management team - especially CFO Mikeska meets with them periodically throughout the week. AQS also routinely provides SPJST Executive Committee complimentary access to continuing education finance and investing seminars.

CFO Mikeska’s Overview

I will share information about a test we do to assure that SPJST has adequate reserves to cover current and future needs and payment of death claims and other obligations.

An insurance company’s obligations extend out many years through the lifetime of its insured certificateholders. Over this period, we go through various scenarios of interest rates and investment returns. Changes in interest rates affect the investment return on the company investments which are needed to pay claims and obligations. The investment portfolio must be properly structured.

For the financial safety of our members, our actuary conducts a process called Cash Flow Testing. Our insurance products and our portfolio of investments are tested against numerous rising and falling interest rate scenarios. The object is to determine if our reserves are adequate to allow SPJST to continue to pay claims and meet its obligations over various rate scenarios.

We were well pleased about the results of the cash flow testing this year. We passed the testing on all interest rate scenarios and were informed that SPJST did not need to set aside and provide for any additional reserves on our plans of insurance. The laddering, structure, and return of our investment portfolio and product pricing were the key in the positive testing results.

Vice President of Sales and Marketing Delisle Doherty’s Report

Note: President/CEO Vanicek provided a brief lead-in to Vice President of Sales and Marketing Delisle Doherty’s report:

Effectively serving the insurance needs of our existing members and their extended families with high quality life insurance remains a key component of SPJST’s invigorated efforts to achieve new growth in 2021 and beyond. Under the leadership of Vice President of Sales and Marketing Delisle Doherty, the marketing department’s emphasis is on achieving sustainable, year-over-year growth that is aligned with the mission of the Society.

I’d like to turn the program over to Delisle who will provide us with a review of SPJST’s sales and marketing initiatives and accomplishments and what we can expect on a go-forward basis.

In 2021, we focused on five areas (many more, but five main areas):

1. Repriced and refreshed our products 2. Revamped the sales agent program 3. Refocused on new annuity contracts 4. Created more efficiency to eliminate third party vendors and update technology 5. New member benefits

These actions along with others have allowed us to take a $2.4 million loss and turn it into a $488,000 gain in one year.

Product Repricing. Our breakeven point with our products ranged between six and 10 years (excluding single paid life, which was higher). We basically

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Refreshing our Products. To make our products more attractive, we refreshed two of our most challenged products, Final Expense and Universal Life. We simplified the final expense to be an accept or declined product. No medical underwriting (MIB and Script Check only) and created the Universal Life so the agents cannot underfund it and no longer write it to anyone over age 50. Ages 50 and above was our biggest underfunded group.

Revamped Agent Programs. Our strategy was quantity over quality. This created a system of a lot of unproductive agents. Out of 312 agents, only 39 percent had sold one or more certificates (minimum standard is six), and only 29 percent was certified to sell annuities, our most profitable product. We cleaned the program and focused on quality over quantity and added extensive training. We went down to 159 agents, required all to be annuity-certified by a certain date, and added more than 50 training classes throughout the state. We also do a monthly virtual class. Today, over 85 percent of the agents are annuity-certified. New agents must be fully licensed and certified by the state to be accepted.

We also created a full-time and parttime position, with the part-time being paid 20 percent less commission. This also created a model that keeps more on the books. Our 25-month persistency in 2002 (how much is sold and what percent is still on the books after 25 months) was only 54 percent going as low as low as 41.34 percent in 2008. Our new programs brought the persistency to 88.56 percent in 2021, our second best in over 20 years.

Focus on New Annuity Sales. With our focus on new annuity sales, we brought in $6.2 million in 2021. Our 2019 and 2020 combined brought in $6.3 million. In the first four months of this year, we brought in $3.7 million trending us to hit $11.1 million for 2022. We also brought in additional deposits by offering a bonus rate for any flexible annuity that was five years or older.

With this success, it allowed us to raise the rates this quarter on new 1year annuities from 1.25 percent to 1.75 percent, our 2-year from 1.75 percent to 2.25 percent, and our Flexible Premium non-IRA annuity from 3.25 percent to 3.35 percent.

Efficiency: √ Restructured Jobs - same production; 3 less employees √ Stopped using third party vendors for medical records √ Renegotiated treaty with re-insurer √ New technology for agent quoting and electronic applications

This created faster turnaround times on our new certificates, less expenses from third party vendors, lower payroll, and created more cash flow by collecting premiums quicker. We also renegotiated our treaty with the reinsurer to save on medical reports, APPS requests (blood and urine), and allow us to issue the applications quicker. This was all money savings and cash flow opportunities at the same time. More production, less expense.

Member Benefits. In 2021, we started a new branding campaign with new signage for consistency in markets and posters to allow the lodge building to market within the walls when renting the building. We are also looking at additional benefits, like long term care and day trips, along with continuing to grow our member business directory. We are also sponsoring more community events to help market and brand SPJST in the communities. This year, we are committed to help the lodges get visibility in their communities and grow membership.

Vice President of Communications Melanie Zavodny’s Report

Note: President/CEO Vanicek gave a brief update of the Board of Directors’ decision to shift member engagement section daily oversight:

In January 2022, the Board of Directors designated Vice President of Communications Melanie Zavodny with the added charge of daily oversight of SPJST’s member engagement section, which includes the SPJST youth program and local lodge outreach and assistance. As a practical matter, I will remain active and involved within in the broad realm of fraternal programming and outreach. What has changed is that the two fulltime Home Office employees – State Fraternal Director Frank Horak and Fraternal Services Specialist Tammy Martinez and one part-time employee, Staff Assistant Ruth Hanusch – now report directly to Melanie.

I’ll start out by taking us back just a little further to 2020 . . . the year of Covid . . . the year that so many of our routine SPJST lodge activities came to a grinding halt. Those were some trying times especially for those lodges that had bills to pay. Those bills never stopped.

In 2021, SPJST and its lodges reemerged from the wicked Covid hibernation. My sincere thanks to lodge officers and lodge members for their fraternal devotion and for finding ways to stay together during those uncertain times.

By mid-year 2021, most SPJST lodges were once again meeting faceto- face as well as hosting events. In some cases, those events were spectacular! Lodge 25, Ennis and their reemergence as one of the host lodges for the National Polka Festival over the 2021 Memorial Day weekend comes to mind. Other lodges, too, demonstrated great resilience and provided a dynamic testament to the important role that SPJST plays in their local communities.

In the spring of 2021, Lodge 48, Beyersville arose from the ashes with the dedication of their spacious new lodge hall. Lodge 88, Houston, too, rebounded nicely in 2021 with not one but two new swimming pools, a children’s play area, and a revitalized social calendar for its members. Bingo Thursdays were also back in a big way!

Those are just three examples. Even lodges without buildings were active community players. Lodge 84, Dallas comes to mind and their efforts to join forces with other Dallas area fraternal and mutual organizations for the magnificent Christmas gathering at Sokol Hall in Dallas. In lodges all over the state, members of all ages were once again volunteering their time and energy to support worthwhile causes, taking the best that SPJST had to offer — a tradition of helping people to care

for their families — and extending these values to their communities.

Look through any typical issue of the Věstník over the past year and you’ll see SPJST members having fun and doing good things for each other and for their communities. That’s what it’s all about and that was good to see. Thanks to the devotion of Věstník readers and reporters, we were never at loss for news and photos.

Through their participation in local SPJST Youth Clubs and statewide events, our young members between the ages of five and 18 developed a greater awareness of the common bonds that we all share. Throughout 2021, SPJST youth clubs worked independently and in collaboration with community-based organizations, tailoring programs to fit their local needs.

The Scholarship Program also made a positive difference in 2021. A total of 48 SPJST scholarships were presented in 2021. Of those, 39 were presented in the spring and nine were presented at SPJST State Youth Achievement Day on July 31.

District Youth Achievement Days were held online for the second year in 2021 with the crowning event – State Youth Achievement Day – taking place live in Temple on the last Saturday in July. Many thanks to the District Youth Counselors, youth leaders, adult volunteers, and judges who assisted with the online competitions and to those who turned out to make the statewide celebration a success!

SPJST Summer Camp in 2021 was once again an enjoyable experience for the boys and girls who attended; however, SPJST camp was cut short by a session due to the late summer resurgence of Covid. One of the things that made camp extra special this year for some of our campers is that they were allowed to bring friends and family who were non-members to camp – for a fee, of course. I’m going to reserve commentary on Camp Kubena at this point as we will receive also an update from Camp Director Rob Clift. Even so, a “shout out” here is due to Camp Director Rob Clift for the visionary role that he is fulfilling and his Camp Kubena team for the wonderful job that they are doing with the program.

There is great value in the personal relationships that exist within the SPJST Youth Program and that are nurtured by our statewide District Youth Counselors, their assistants, and youth leaders. They understand the importance of working together to achieve common goals. Too, there is recognition on the part of the Executive Committee that the SPJST Youth Program is a valuable SPJST program. There is also the determination on the part of the Executive Committee to see the program expand and recommit to the idea of volunteerism and service.

Since the beginning of 2022, State Fraternal Director Frank Horak and I have been working with the DYCs, youth leaders, and parents to collect their input on the many and varied aspects of the SPJST Youth Program. We had a great Youth Leaders Appreciation Event and Workshop on April 22 and 23 at Camp Kubena. I believe everyone is ready to see a dose of new life and energy injected into the program. We’ve begun a thoughtful process that includes evaluating the program that we currently have and identifying ways to update it to make it more appealing and relevant in the lives of our young members. Your ideas and input are greatly appreciated.

Conditioning our existing lodges for revitalization also remains a top priority and one of our organizational goals for 2022. If you’ve followed the Věstník in recent weeks, you may have noticed the efforts that are being made to bring members, families, and friends together. As with the Youth Program, there is a keen desire on the part of the Executive Committee that the Home Office work with lodges to reunite the members first as communities of friends and then to develop missions that will serve the community as well as bringing them closer as members.

On April 24, Lodge 133, San Antonio hosted a family and friends get-together at the historic VFW Post 76 in San Antonio. There was food! There was music! And, there were spirited men, women, and young people having a good time! And when the event was done, there was the desire to meet again at the VFW post – and to keep the idea of fraternalism alive in the Alamo City. We’ll see where it goes from here.

That’s just one example but it’s indicative of what is now taking place. On May12, SPJST members, families, and their friends in the vicinity of Longview - regardless of their lodge affiliation are being invited to dinner and a program as a simple way to get members who may have never been to a lodge meeting or event reacquainted with the idea of SPJST and its potential for good within the community.

Brian and Delisle have been working together with the lodges and with the district directors on these initiatives. To help facilitate this ongoing process, Brian presented the Executive Committee with a working draft of the new SPJST Lodge Operations Manual at the April Executive Committee meeting. The online guide will be informative and comprehensive and cover many aspects of the SPJST experience ranging from lodge leader essentials, SPJST rituals, and a slew of resource materials. Brian will be delivering a second draft of the guide at the July meeting with the intent to have the new guide in lodge leaders’ hands shortly thereafter.

There’s just so much to say regarding SPJST’s non-contractual benefits. Benefits including PerkSpot, Travel Insurance, and Amazon Smile are all profiled on the spjst.org website. Additionally, we are in the perpetual process of building SPJST’s new online member services directory. We call it “Big Kolache!” It’s in its infancy now; however, it’s just another way for SPJST to deliver value to its members. I could go on; however, I’ll draw my section to a close by saying thanking to our members and lodge leaders for their dedication and devotion to SPJST.

Camp Kubena Executive Director Rob Clift’s Report

My name is Rob Clift, and I’m the director at Camp Kubena. I’ve been working at Camp Kubena for three years, and I just love being out here. Thank you for the opportunity to share a little bit about what we’re doing.

Our mission at Camp Kubena is impacting lives through positive outdoor experiences.

We have a six-part strategy that we are working on to make sure that we can impact those lives through those positive experiences. ➽ Leadership ➽ Integrate with SPJST ➽ Infrastructure ➽ Income opportunities ➽ Outreach and marketing ➽ Core educational program

I’ll talk about a little about each one of those and tell you where we are with things.

Leadership. First of all, our leadership is fantastic. For the first time, we have five leaders. It’s myself and Assistant Director David Motley. Under our two directors, we have three managers Hospitality Manager Melinda Bigham who’s in charge of all food services, all the housekeeping; Program Manager Katie Redinger, who is in charge of all the fun stuff, all the programming activity, staff - when they’re here for the summer and making sure that we have good educational programs; and Maintenance Manager Earl Preston, our fulltime maintenance person who makes sure that all of our equipment and buildings are well-maintained.

Then during the rest of the year, we will ebb and flow with different amounts of seasonal employees. In the summertime, we’ll probably hire about 20 people for our seasonal staff who live right here on site.

SPJST Family. We want to integrate with SPJST. Remember, every dollar spent at Camp Kubena by SPJST and SPJST members goes right back into the organization you work at and are part of.

So, how do we support that organization? Well, we support our youth program working directly with State Fraternal Director Frank Horak to make sure that we have fantastic summer camp opportunities for our kids. We also have training available for our adult leaders. So, I’m always working with Frank on those. And, we have employment opportunities for those youth members that have graduated and gone on to be young adults. They can come and work at Camp Kubena and make some money. We have those other opportunities as well.

SPJST Meetings. We love to support SPJST business. We’d love to be a meeting and conference space. We also

would like to be more involved in the future for our professional development. Finally, we’d like to be of access and benefit to our membership at SPJST.

How can Camp Kubena be a facility that the membership visits and uses? Well, there’s a discount. You could come out here, rent a cabin, maybe do a family reunion, etc. If you’re out here during summer camp, all of our Camp Kubena members always have a discount at the Camp Kubena Store. So those are ways we support our own.

Infrastructure. Infrastructure is fantastic at Camp Kubena! If you haven’t been out to the camp in a while, I encourage everyone to come out.

First of all, we’ve done a fantastic job painting and maintaining all of our buildings. We’ve been upgrading some of our buildings such as our maintenance barn. We put a lot of time and effort into making sure that the buildings are repaired and are now a useful resource to make sure camp is run in a fantastic way.

We now have a new medical lodge that helps accommodate our need for having a quarantine space when we do summer camp. Our old medical lodge was turned into a full-time residence for our assistant director. Once again, the assistant director’s role is to help us give 24/7 coverage. We have completed a lot more work out here from the pond, mowing and lighting around camp, making sure landscaping is up to grade as well as having really good communications with the recent installation of fiber optics.

Income. None of this can work without income opportunities. This year has already been one of the best income producing years that Camp Kubena has ever seen. We’ve had 10 spring groups booked with well over $80,000 of income this year. I only budgeted $60,000, and we are already $20,000 above my projected income. I am hoping to really knock it out of the park in the fall! I’ve already got four groups booked in the fall. Summer camp is fully booked, and we have antique week, school trips, meetings, and family reunions as well as our brand new Camp Kubena fundraiser on October 29 - Cars & Guitars. We’re looking forward to having everyone out for that. It’s going to be a great opportunity to bring in some additional funds in to Camp Kubena.

Marketing. We are spreading the word about Camp Kubena through outreach and marketing. This year, we are going to be involved in a magazine will be distributed throughout the state of Texas to all the Texas stop-overs. It’s going to be working with Fayette County Record to produce that magazine. We will be on the front cover of the magazine as well as on social media and websites that we will be working with.

Education. Finally, for our core educational programming, we have great programs - disc golf, bocce ball, leatherwork, we have a nature center now with STEM-integrated programs that we are doing field trips with schools. Of course, we also have all of our other programs, such as high ropes and low ropes with a new high ropes program called crate stacking.

The last program that we are excited about - another income producer - is going to be our canoe guiding on the Colorado River. Stay tuned for more information about that.

That’s just a little bit about what is going on at Camp Kubena. Thank you very much for your time, and I hope everyone has a great day. Closing

Note: President/CEO Brian Vanicek and Vice President of Communications Melanie Zavodny closed out the webcast.

Just a few more observations we’d like to share at this point. We’re especially excited to see how new business volume has increased in 2021. With a revitalized emphasis on SPJST branding, sales training, and mission, we look forward to seeing this trend to continue.

And, as Melanie pointed out, on the fraternal front - for our lodge system and our youth program - our watchword remains “relevancy” - doing those things that bring meaning and substance to the SPJST fraternal mission.

There were at least a couple of references made today to the year 2020 and Covid and how that affected SPJST. The silver lining of 2020 was the way it also accelerated SPJST’s embrace of the digital workplace. Necessity provided management with the motivational kick necessary to break from the past and think about how to do things differently. In six short months, we became more resourceful: Insurance applications without face-to-face contact; business activities shifting online; and business meetings conducted by teleconference. So, there were good things that came out of 2020. Even our semi-monthly Fraternal Focus webcasts. We started those online visits as a way to stay in touch and at same time, convey meaningful information.

Of course, we should always be vigilant with costs, but it’s more than just that. Driving SPJST’s growth requires ongoing and calculated investments in the business, in the form of new sales and marketing technology, and fraternal activities that support excellent customer service and member experiences.

Delisle’s full court press to integrate the illustrate.inc illustration software for the sales department in 2021 is a beautiful example of that. Our current drive to integrate the Equisoft policy administrative software will dramatically improve SPJST’s ability to manage SPJST’s existing member data base. All aspects of certificate management stand to improve. From the members’ ability to access and update their coverage information to every aspect of Home Office policy administration and commission management, we’ll be in good shape.

One of the areas that Delisle touched on that Melanie will speak to is our ongoing efforts to enhance the visibility of SPJST statewide.

Over the past year, SPJST continued to show strong support for a multitude of annual public events, most notably helping to sponsor such events as National Polka Festival in Ennis, Westfest in West, and the Kolache Festival in Caldwell. The Society also offered its support to an array of cultural and heritage groups including

Czech Heritage Museum and Genealogy Center (CHMGC) in Temple; Texas Czech Genealogical Society (TCGS); Czech Educational Foundation of Texas (CEFT); Texans of Czech Ancestry (TOCA); Czech Heritage Society (CHS) of Texas; Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center (TCHCC) in La Grange; Czech Center Museum Houston (CCHM) in Houston; and Sokol. It was an honor for us to work with and to be affiliated with these fine organizations and the projects that they championed. And finally, through the SPJST Foundation, more than $40,000 was raised in 2021 to aid the community of Hrusky in the Czech Republic after the devastating tornado damage that was experienced.

Now, here we are - May 7, 2022 125 years into the future from where we started. Present and future generations of our SPJST Family will benefit as a result of our harmonious and collaborative efforts. Thank you for your time and attention. We appreciate your service and dedication to SPJST. If you have questions after today’s program, please email them to info@spjst.org. Thank you again for joining in.

Best wishes from SPJST to you and your lodge.

—SPJST—