Ord and Valley County embraces Five to Thrive

Raymond Scott is quite proud to see young people moving to Valley County to raise families and open businesses. The region has built a reputation for being a place where entrepreneurs can thrive - like the young business owners in the community today, Scott and his family chose Ord as the place to chase their dreams.

In Scott's eyes, Valley County is a tremendous place to build a life.

He and his family moved to Ord in the early 1980s after purchasing a local pharmacy. Scott, his late wife Catherine, and their three children relocated from Omaha and made their new business a family operation. They soon welcomed a fourth child, and the Scotts quickly became valued residents in the community.

In 1996, Scott co-founded Good Life Pharmacy. He retired about six years ago, but seeing the business continue to do well brings him joy. He credits the incredibly supportive Valley County community for the pharmacy's success. Scott gives that support back as a longtime member of the Valley County Community Foundation Fund Advisory Committee.

Bob Stowell, attorney and longtime community builder, introduced Scott to VCCFF, which is an affiliated fund of Nebraska Community Foundation. The fund has been involved in making Valley County a vibrant place to live for the past two decades. Members have been involved in supporting the county's renowned entrepreneurial ecosystem; nurturing the local arts community; and investing in leadership and leadership succession. It all started with a generous bequest by a local couple, John and Alyce Wozab. That snowballed into dozens of new opportunities and experiments, among them HomeTown Competitiveness (HTC) - a community development framework that focused on four pillars: leadership, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and youth engagement.

"I just like the vision and purpose," Scott said. "We've done an awful lot. We've got a good foundation going."

These days, Scott and his fellow fund advisory committee members are focused on keeping wealth in Valley County. When Nebraska Community Foundation released its most recent transfer of wealth study in 2021, the numbers were a surprise. Through this decade in Valley County, more than $400 million is expected to transfer from older to younger generations. Some of those heirs may live outside of the county or the state, meaning that portion of the wealth could leave the area forever.

"It's a shock to see how much is going out of the county," Scott said.

As a response to that concern, Nebraska Community Foundation's Five to Thrive campaign encourages all Nebraskans to consider designating just five percent of their estate to the hometown they love. In Valley County, that could mean adding $20 million dollars to community-building resources. VCCFF is among many affiliated funds in the NCF network who are all-in on the campaign. Scott himself has made his own gift, designating five percent of a trust to VCCFF's unrestricted endowment.

"Five percent does not scare people," Scott said. "It's not going to rob the family. I think it's a reasonable ask."

Five percent may not seem like much, but we believe it's going to transform the future of Nebraska.

Think of the Nebraska hometown you love. This is your opportunity to enrich its future. NCF's Five to Thrive campaign asks you to consider leaving just five percent of your assets to your favorite Nebraska hometown or to Nebraska Community Foundation to benefit all of our communities. If all Nebraskans "left five," it would result in $5 billion over the next 10 years and $47.5 billion over the next 50. Imagine the positive change that could occur with those kinds of resources! When you leave just five percent to a community's endowment, you can secure your family's legacy and help your hometown thrive.

If you would like to find out more about gift planning for yourself or for your community, visit www.fivetothrivene.org or contact Todd Mekelburg, Senior Director of Gift Planning at[email protected], 402.323.7343 or Becky Ries, Assistant Director of Gift Planning at[email protected] , 308.730.1048.

For information on how you can give back to your hometown, contact Nebraska Community Foundation's Office of Planned Giving, 402.323.7330 or [email protected].