YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
YOUR BUSINESS AUTHORITY
Springfield, MO
More than a half-century of employment at a Springfield nonprofit came to a close Dec. 30 for Carl Rosenkranz when he stepped down as executive director of the Ozarks Area Community Action Corp.
Rosenkranz’s retirement comes as he spent 48 of his 51 years as leader at the organization where he began working in 1971. OACAC works to alleviate poverty in Greene County and nine others in southwest Missouri through services including community centers, family planning, a foster grandparent program, school readiness program Head Start and low-income housing assistance.
“Our goal is to improve the quality of life for people, and we do it so many different ways,” said Rosenkranz, 77, from his office in late December. “I always talk to people about the fact that it’s not just me. Yes, I’ve been here 51 years and I’ve been the director 48. But we do it with a whole group of people – the employees of the agency, the board of directors from the 10 counties, Head Start policy council members. We have volunteers and donors and a whole bunch of agencies we work with.
“I’ve been fortunate to be here in this position for so long and work with everybody in the community.”
Even though he’s exited the leadership role, Rosenkranz’s work at OACAC isn’t finished. As his permanent replacement is still being sought, Rosenkranz has provided orientation to Jennifer Olson, the organization’s Greene County Community Center supervisor and Community Services Block Grant director. Olson, a 14-year employee, is serving as interim executive director while the OACAC board continues its search.
“The board felt they wanted more time to accept applications, and they’re doing so through Jan. 20,” Rosenkranz said, adding he expects a decision will be made by March.
Rosenkranz plans to serve as a consultant for OACAC for the next couple of months to work with Olson, as well as the board’s selection of its new leader.
“I felt it was appropriate to share my knowledge and let them know how things are working or not working,” he said.
‘This is home’
While Rosenkranz said opportunities cropped up over the years to leave OACAC and Springfield, none were ever seriously considered.
“I liked what I was doing,” he said, noting the retirement decision was made early in the summer. “This is home. This is where I will stay. I’m not interested in going to other places. I had offers but why would you want to chase something when you’re in the middle of a great place? It’s a good work environment.”
When he took over as executive director in 1974, the agency’s operating budget was roughly $2 million and it employed around 200 people, Rosenkranz said. In his final year at the helm, officials reported a budget of $33.1 million and over 450 employees. Officials estimate the nonprofit serves 30,000 people annually, up from around 3,000 per year when Rosenkranz was hired. Roughly 100 people work out of the organization’s 30,000-square-foot headquarters at 215 S. Barnes Ave., which OACAC has called home since 1993.
A native of Massachusetts, Rosenkranz said he moved to the Ozarks in 1970, first working with the Volunteers in Service to America program before getting hired by OACAC the following year. He initially worked for the nonprofit in Marshfield as a field service representative and was responsible for the adult basic education program. Since he became executive director in 1974, the organization has established several of its major initiatives, such as family planning, housing assistance and the low-income home energy assistance program. OACAC is one of 19 community action agencies across the state of Missouri, helping people achieve self-sufficiency.
“It’s a giant effort. Everybody puts in the work to do what they need to do to help people,” he said.
Part of Rosenkranz’s work involved attending OACAC Board of Directors meetings. He recently researched his attendance to learn just how many: “As I retire on the 364th day of the calendar year, I attended 364 area board meetings in the 48 years. And I only missed two.”
In service
Aside from his work leading OACAC, Rosenkranz has represented the organization on several other boards in the community, including Community Partnership of the Ozarks Inc., Ozark Region Workforce Development Board and Missouri Community Action Network.
CPO President and CEO Janet Dankert said she’s worked with Rosenkranz in different capacities over her 20 years of employment with the Springfield nonprofit she’s led since 2012. He was among the original members of the CPO board when it was formed in 1998. OACAC’s next executive director will fill his seat on the board.
“Down the road, if he wants to come back, he’d just come on as a private member,” she said, noting Rosenkranz is an expert in board governance and how to develop infrastructure around an organization.
Dankert laughed when asked how Rosenkranz found the time to serve on multiple boards and lead OACAC simultaneously.
“Carl was great about hiring people for their areas of expertise and then letting them do their job,” she said, noting doing so allowed him to serve other organizations on a local and state level. “Most good leaders assemble a really good team and then kind of get out of the way.”
Dankert said she could always rely on Rosenkranz when seeking guidance in the workplace.
“Especially early on when I took over as CEO, he was definitely a mentor with me,” she said. “He’s just been a real stable force for OACAC and the community overall.”
Rosenkranz said a game plan for post-retirement is still to be determined.
“I’d like to do more reading and as my wife says, ‘You have a lot to clean up around the house,’” he said. “There’s a lot of house projects that I’ve had to put aside because I’ve not had time due to the crazy work schedule.”
While OACAC’s bylaws state people that retire or leave an agency must wait a year before seeking to serve on its board, Rosenkranz said he wouldn’t rule that out as a future possibility.
“It would be kind of ironic to come back as a board member of the agency you worked for,” he said with a laugh.
