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Chair/President's Message

excerpted from the 2010 Annual Report

To the people of North Carolina —

In 2010, the Golden LEAF Foundation took bold steps to maximize the benefit of its work for tobacco-dependent, economically distressed and rural communities.
 
Golden LEAF awarded a $24 million grant to MCNC to help leverage over $75 million in federal broadband funds that will help bring middle-mile fiber to hundreds of community anchor institutions, such as schools, libraries, hospitals, community colleges, and even universities, across 69 counties. The federal grant to MCNC was one of the largest in the nation, and Golden LEAF's ability to provide the necessary local match will help advance broadband access to the most remote areas of our state by years. It is also expected that the presence of the middle-mile fiber will allow private companies to serve even more businesses and homes in rural North Carolina than ever before.

The Foundation also had a record-setting year in its Community Assistance Initiative, which serves North Carolinians living in our most distressed counties through community-based grantsmaking. Projects in 11 counties were awarded grants in 2010, and this torrid pace will continue in 2011 and 2012. Education, economic development, infrastructure and health care are common priorities that local citizens share during this process, and through this initiative, they are able to see their input make a difference in Golden LEAF grantsmaking in their communities.
 
As we continue to recover from the recession, we were excited to see that economic development opportunities began growing in 2010, a trend that is continuing into 2011. The Foundation made a number of grants to help job creation projects come to reality from Robeson County in the southeast to Graham County in the far west. We take pride in our strategic and targeted grantsmaking that fills the funding gap that state and local governments cannot provide and results in jobs for North Carolinians that otherwise would have been lost to another state or nation.

Agriculture, our traditional strength as a state, has remained a strong economic sector even in these tough times. Through special grant cycles in local foods and agri-biotechnology, Golden LEAF is providing support to help farmers diversify and add value to their products, thereby supporting North Carolina's economy.

We also provided new opportunities through our Golden LEAF Scholars program. 100 Golden LEAF Scholars from 74 counties chose to obtain leadership training, learn about rural North Carolina, and to begin internships in their home communities this summer. This effort culminated two years of analysis and evaluation about how to help talented North Carolina students stay connected to rural North Carolina, and possibly locate in rural areas to pursue careers after graduation.

In total, Golden LEAF awarded 159 grants totaling over $73 million in 2010. Our ability to continue to award meaningful grants to help tobacco-dependent, economically distressed and rural communities at this level depends on two things: the returns on our investments and the ongoing payments from the Master Settlement Agreement. In 2010 alone, our investments earned $67 million and since inception have earned a total of $214 million. We continue to be good stewards of the resources and use the MSA payments wisely to ensure that the Golden LEAF money gets to where it should go – communities like yours.

We are grateful for a tremendous 2010, and look forward to even better things to come.

Sincerely,

Edgar M. Roach, Jr. Board Chairman

Dan Gerlach President