Rotary Club of Franklin

Vocational

Vocational

The Rotary Club of Franklin Bob and Helen Carpenter Nursing Scholarship

During the 2011-12 Rotary year, the Rotary Club of Franklin established the Bob and Helen Carpenter Nursing Scholarship. The scholarship, awarded each year in honor of the late North Carolina State Senator and longtime Rotary Club of Franklin member Bob Carpenter and his wife Helen, goes to a deserving student or students who are presently pusuing a degree in the nursing field.  The Carpenter Scholarship offers up to $1500 in scholarship funds to one or more Macon County nursing students enrolled in their second year of study at WCU and / or SCC.

The Rotary Club of Franklin Operation Renewal Project

Operation Renewal is District 7670’s effort to assist homeless veterans thru vocational training and support fortheir future. The veterans live and work in the Veterans Restoration Center (240 men) or the Steadfast House (10 women) in the Asheville area. This past Rotary Year, the disrict raised more than $37,000 toward the project. The District Program is chaired by Franklin Rotarian Gary Dills. If this program is successful, the District plans to expand to a site in Franklin in the future. For more information on this project see District 7670 Chair Gary Dills or Rotary Club of Franklin Chair Tom James.

The Rotary Club of Franklin Ethics

The Rotary Club of Franklin recognizes businesses in the community that continually display high ethical standards and extraodinary community relations while giving back to those communities in which they operate. If you would like to nominate a local business for the The Rotary Club of Franklin Business Integrity Award, see vocational chair 2017-18 Rich Peoples.

(from the October 3rd, 2012 edition of the Flywheel)

Ethics in Business
Article by Sean Gibson

The Rotary Club of Franklin kicked off the vocational month of October, 2012 with one of the, if not THE most important components in the business world, the subject of ethics. Club co-vocational director Bill McGaha began the presentation with a short history on the four way test which was put into place in 1909 just four years after Paul Harris and his fellow co-founders created Rotary in 1905.

Program host Jerry Chastain then when into how he applied ethics in his business by relating it to his employees in that success is determined by how one dresses, acts and how he or she is able to correct what doesn’t go correctly.

From there members heard a presentation from member Rich Peoples who talked about the four way test in detail and how he applies it to his field of engineering. Peoples stressed four key points relating to the four way test in a business setting. 1) Say it if you mean it. 2) Is this the way you would want to be treated? No-one should ever feel cheated. 3) Your business relationship should build goodwill in that you want to continue the relationship and that it not be a one time transaction. 4) If I’m successful then I would like my business partner to be successful.

Member and Sgt. at Arms Norm Jones talked about the importance of ethics in the insurance industry by stressing the importance of understanding the duty of being ethical to yourself and those that you are doing business. He also stressed that it’s important to conduct yourself in a way that does not restrict competition and that you do not compromise yourself personally and maintain professional confidentiality. For more information on Rotary Vocational see directors Bill MaGaha and Demi Bray.

 

(from the October 24th, 2012 edition of the Flywheel)

Ethics in Government
by John Short

  Our vocational month concluded with Rotarian and County Manager Jack Horton introducing todays panel which included representatives from various areas of government. He mentioned that a lot of people see this subject “Ethics in Government”as an oxymoron but during his career as a county manager he has not found this to be true. Over the years he has worked with many individuals who conduct themselves with integrity and within a code of ethics.

 Bobby Kuppers-county commissioner and retired Naval Officer said all elected officials are required to attend ethical training. According to Mr. Kuppers it boils down to integrity and personal ethics in conducting business. Once integrity is gone you can’t get it back. He said if officials went by the 4 Way Test in conducting business then it would be done ethically.

 Gary Shields-retired principal and school board member pointed out that the N.C. Legislature passed a bill in 2009 requiring schools to adopt a code of ethics. Training is provided through online training, N.C. School Board Assoc. and the N.C. School of Government. Areas covered are maintaining confidentiality of information, accepting gifts and favors and failure to perform duties.

 Joe Collins-Franklin Mayor mentioned that as a public servant one must look at the pros and cons of the issues and vote for the good of the community. In doing so you don’t always please everyone. Distinguishing between right and wrong isn’t always easy and if one isn’t careful a person can be blindsided.

 Thanks to Jack Horton and our speakers for a very informative program on Ethics in Government. For more information on vocational programs and projects see vocational co directors Bill McGaha and Demi Bray.

Rotary Club of Franklin Read2Me

Read2Me is Macon County’ s effort to promote literacy with a focus on the 0-5 year age group. It is a community wide effort and is currently incorporating Highlands members in fund raising efforts to support the Dolly Parton Imagination Library project which would provide a book a month to each child who requests it, funds allowing.  Franklin Rotarians Karen Kenney (Club Chair), Fred Lindstrom, and Gary Dills were key in founding the program locally and continue to develop it.

For more information on Read2Me contact club chair Karen Kenney.