Cogitator Nov 9, 2011

VISITING ROTARIANS

None this week.

GUESTS

Bill Mueller, President Mike Gemma's good friend and retired businessman, joined us again for lunch.

CLUB ANNIVERSARY

Happy 9th Rotary Anniversary to our immediate Past President, Ed Neff! 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Mike Gemma rallied the troops for the Friday, November 11th Veterans' Day Parade down Main Street, East Greenwich.  Banners, signs, motorcycles, cars, and plenty of Rotarians were being organized for a big show of Rotary spirit and thanksgiving for local veterans and veterans everywhere who have served our country. 

A reminder for November's Board Meeting was announced--7:30am, Thursday, November 10th, at United Methodist Church.

The Rotary Jackets are finally here!  If you placed an order with President Mike, please see him for delivery and payment.  And if you haven't ordered one, it's never too late to get in on the action and stroll around town with cool East Greenwich Rotary gear.  Prices are only $45 and $65.  

NEW GENERATIONS

Bill TenEyck is energetically leading the charge in the Fifth Avenue of Rotary Service, New Generations, as Rotary reaches out to the youth of local communities.  Bill announced that the constitution has been approved for our sponsored Rotaract Club at New England Tech.  Also, the South Dartmouth Rotary Club, which is very involved with local college students and Rotaract in their area, is hosting an Oxfam Fundraiser Meal on Tuesday, November 15th.  

CITRUS

Bonnie Sauer, Citrus Chief, gave us an update on citrus sales.  So far we've sold over 300 cases of fruit for $10,600 in gross sales.  That's 48% of our goal.  Also, sign-up sheets were passed out for upcoming phone-bank nights and also for delivery day, Saturday, December 10th.  Keep plugging away at those sales.  Don't forget that our goal is to give $10,000 to the East Greenwich Little League's Cragan Field Lights Project.  To get there, we need each member to be responsible for selling 15 cases of fruit.  Keep spreading the word, and sell, sell, sell. 

(And in contest news, the Tutti Frutti Gang won this week's sales contest.  It's the second big victory for the Tutti Fruttis, who received big ol' warm, fresh, and delicious oatmeal cookies.)

PROGRAM/SPEAKER

Scott Cassidy, Regional Sales and Marketing Manager, Schneider Electric

American Power Conversion's growth throughout the 1980's and 1990's makes for one of Rhode Island's greatest business success stories.  The company started humbly in 1981 with government grant money for solar power projects.  When their grant money ran out, they quickly became a leading power in the 'UPS' (uninterrupted power supply) world.  Scott Cassidy attributes APC's symbiotic work with Novell, a multi-national software and services company, as the key to their growth back then.  

Today, APC is a Schneider Electric company.  Schneider Electric is an international powerhouse in power-management, with sales now over $25 billion.  While perhaps not well known in Rhode Island prior to purchasing APC, Schneider Electric is a French company long involved in worldwide efforts of providing and managing sustainable energy.  Their mission lies within the sphere of managing power, versus providing it.  However, they are a key player in more and more parts of the world as the introduction of efficient, reliable, safe, and green energy continues.  

By 2050, world energy needs will double.  Yet, as we approach 2050, governments are demanding that carbon dioxide emissions be cut in half.  The collision of those two facts will make for quite a difficult dilemma for businesses which create and/or manage energy sources throughout the world.

It is also estimated that there are currently 1.4 billion people on Earth who live in darkness at day's end.  Schneider's goal is to help at least 1 million of this group gain access to electricity in the upcoming year.     

http://www.schneider-electric.com/site/home/index.cfm/ww/

http://afcomnewengland.org/library/presentations/NetBotz_Customer_Preso_AFCOM.pdf