3 minute read
DONOR STEVE BLUMREICH
Funding the Future
As a career accountant and company president, Steve Blumreich has earned all the quiet time he can get in retirement. No one would blame the Wisconsin native for dipping his toes in the local creeks and watching the world go by.
Instead, Blumreich has taken a leadership role in supporting the efforts of the local school system to get students off on a fast start to the future. Together with his wife Susan, who graduated from Mountain Home High School, Blumreich sees this work as his highest calling.
“When we look at the public school system up here, we see the type of school system that gives young people tremendous opportunities,” he said. “Whether they go to college, decide on a technical career or go into the military, you name it, there are so many different options they have up here to better themselves.
“Both of us are firm believers in education being the solution to a lot of the issues that we face. Mountain Home is a community we want to see flourish, and I think people are interested in improving their community as well. Therefore, we’ve always been advocates for getting young people started early learning about issues that impact our lives, whether it’s science or health care or business. It’s important from an education standpoint they have that resource and actively participate in it.”
The couple has funded or helped fund scholarships in business and environmental science. The former, two $2,500 scholarships paid for by the couple, is tied in with a business plan competition conducted through the high school.
“We funded the business scholarship at the high school to promote the business plan program,” Blumreich said. “Sheri Smith is the accounting and business teacher who introduced that, I think last year, and we had good participation. One or two business plans were used in state competition through the Future Business Leaders of America.
“That was something I wanted business students to look at, because so many people who start a business and need to get a loan or financing, it’s helpful to know what’s involved. A business plan is a good tool to introduce to students.”
The second scholarship came about through a local organization, Friends of the North Fork and White Rivers, where Steve has served as an officer.
“We have two scholarships there,” he said. “Those are $1,000 apiece, and we do one through Lyon College in Batesville. Those are funded half from us and half by the organization.”
— STEVE BLUMREICH
In addition to the scholarships, Blumreich has been a staunch advocate of connecting the issues of conservation with high school programs. He’s helped develop a partnership among the club, the city and the school’s art department to paint storm drains with nature scenes and colors that remind individuals of the sensitive ecosystems to which those storm drains ultimately lead. And, he’s helped support a Stream Team at the high school — a conservation program for youth sponsored by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
“We get science and biology students to Dodd Creek, which runs through the ASU Mountain Home campus,” he said. “They participate in getting macroinvertebrate and minnow and other creatures that live in the creek; they count the inventory, identify creatures. They also learn how to take water samples and run a chemistry analysis at the creek to see what the condition of the water is via 10 or so tests, including temperature, pH, alkalinity.”
All in all, it’s been a pretty productive eight years since the Blumreichs touched down in Mountain Home. And worth every single minute, Steve said.
“From a personal standpoint, education was important to help us live the lifestyle in retirement we’re able to. If it weren’t for education and the opportunities it provided us, we wouldn’t be able to do this,” he said. “The school system here provides those opportunities to educate young people, and that’s the best investment all of us can make.
“I just think it’s important for people of all ages, whether they’re gainfully employed or retired, to give of their resources to pay it forward.”
