UNA executives look ahead to 2001 (12/31/00)

UNA executives look ahead to 2001

by Martha Lysko
UNA National Secretary

KERHONKSON, N.Y. - The Ukrainian National Association's Executive Committee met at its third quarterly meeting of the year on December 3. The meeting took place at Soyuzivka after the annual session of the General Assembly that met Friday, December 1, to Sunday, December 3.

Present at the Executive Committee meeting were: President Ulana Diachuk, First Vice-President Stefko Kuropas, Second Vice-President Anya Dydyk-Petrenko, National Secretary Martha Lysko, and Treasurer Stefan Kaczaraj. Unable to attend the meeting was the Rev. Myron Stasiw, director for Canada. Stefan Hawrysz represented the UNA Auditing Committee.

Since the reports of the Executive Committee had been presented and accepted at the General Assembly session, they were not reviewed at the executives' meeting.

The treasurer asked that the UNA's equity holdings be reviewed before the year's end. The national secretary reported that new UNA life insurance applications have been approved in all states except New York. The UNA will begin to use these applications as soon as it receives New York state approval.

A tentative schedule for all Executive Committee meetings in the year 2001 was established. Ms. Dydyk-Petrenko promised to continue organizing the summer entertainment programs for Soyuzivka. President Diachuk stated that all reports were presented at the General Assembly Session and the entire UNA operation was scrutinized. The one remaining item to be presented was the lease for the space given up by UNA to be signed with the GSA. This lease will generate substantial income for the Ukrainian National Urban Renewal Corp. and will reduce the rent the UNA pays to the corporation. Ms. Diachuk delivered a short report on business operations of Soyuzivka and the publishing house for the first nine months of the year.

The Executive Committee reviewed the decisions made by the General Assembly. The most important was the proposal of the Standing Committee on Soyuzivka. Since the inception of Soyuzivka almost 50 years ago it has never been a profitable entity; the UNA has been adding close to $400,000 to subsidize its operations in the last few years. The UNA cannot continue to do this in the future.

The Soyuzivka Committee is to formulate a business plan within the next two weeks. It will also explore other means to make Soyuzivka financially independent or self-sufficient in the future, whether it is through outside investors, fund-raising or other means. All plans should be in place by May 2001.

The General Assembly wants to see a strong marketing plan in place for UNA insurance products. This plan should reach out to newcomers as well as the younger professionals in the Ukrainian community. The General Assembly also indicated that it wants the Home Office to develop an employee handbook and budget for each department in the Home Office. These three major decisions were broadly discussed at the annual session and reviewed at the Executive Committee meeting.

| Home Page |