Viking Magazine - August 2015 - 32

Board Minutes
Sons of Norway
International Board of Directors
Spring Meeting
T
May 5-8, 2015
he Spring 2015 Meeting of the
International Board of Directors
was held May 5-8, 2015, at the Sons
of Norway Headquarters in Minneapolis,
Minnesota. The following Officers and
Directors were present: President Jon
Tehven, Vice President Ron Stubbings,
Secretary Dan Rude, Treasurer Ray Knutson,
and Directors Bob Hoover, Erlene Stevenson,
Marci Larson, Elaine Nelson, Jon Grinde,
Lyle Berge, Gloria Benazic and Odd Harald
Olsen. Attending from the staff were Chief
Executive Officer Eivind Heiberg and Legal
Counsel David Ness.
A brief review of the agenda followed.
Audit Partner Joe Pope and Senior Audit
Manager Aaron Stenhaug of Eide Bailly who
presented the 2014 Audit of Sons of Norway.
It is the opinion of the auditors that the
financials were presented fairly, which means
that it was a clean, unqualified audit.
Jeff Birdsley, Jon Augustine and Deb
Norton of BTC Capital Management
presented the Sons of Norway investment
portfolio. It was reported that Sons of
Norway has a very high, credit-rated
portfolio that consistently continues to grow.
Current market conditions and forecasts
relative to the portfolio were review
and discussed.
Actuary Steve Griffith of Griffith,
Ballard and Company gave an indepth
presentation on how we price our products.
He also offered the opinion that non-benefit
members offer the greatest opportunity for
future sales.
Controller Dean Nelson went over the
First Quarter Financials. Actuary Dean
Stiller gave an overview of the Actuarial
Memorandum. Dean Stiller also gave
an overview of what can be expected
with the 2015 Minnesota State Audit.
Fraternal Director Linda Pederson spoke
on PerkSpot, a new member benefit. We
will soon be educating our members
regarding this new service and how to
use it. Dean Nelson and Linda Pederson
have been working with the International
Convention Finance Committee on
recommended items from the 2014
International Convention, especially
with the Fraternal Funds Form and the
D17. Foundation Director Cindy Olson
gave an overview of the Foundation
Board Meeting. In November, the
Foundation Board will have three Board
openings. The nomination process will
start in August, with appointments to
be completed in November. Marketing
Director Len Carlson gave an overview
of his department. Director of IT Rachele
Hockert reviewed several security options
that will be updated in the next few
months. Discussion followed regarding
the electronic board device. Rachele and
Executive Administrative Assistant Liz
Reque reviewed the three software device
options with the Board.
MOTION was made and seconded to
purchase the device with the BoardPaq
software as presented by Staff to the
International Board. Discussion. Motion
carried.
Director Marci Larson gave the final
32 VIKING AUGUST 2015 sonsofnorway.com
financial review of the 2014 International
Convention. Boosters resulted in
generating high revenue and was very
easy to do. The Viking Auction donated
one-half of the money raised to District 3
Charitable Trust and one-half to the Sons
of Norway Foundation, so it generate
no money for the lodge. The lodge
also determined that they were more
interested in having vendors at the event
and not interested in making money off of
them, so chose to charge them at cost.
With the 2016 International Convention,
our contract with Par Avion is up. At the
2015 Fall Board Meeting, we will have
presentations from housing companies so
that the Board can recommend a service
to potential hosts of the 2018 International
Convention.
The Board, District Presidents and Senior
Staff then held a Strategic Planning Session.
There were very positive comments about
the Strategic Planning Session. The chairs
of the committees need to make sure that
everything is coordinated so that we aren't
wasting efforts duplicating processes.
MOTION was made and seconded to
hire the firm of K&C Consultants for our
Strategic Planning initiative. Discussion.
Motion carried.
Minutes were approved of the
following International Board Meetings:
November 12-15, 2014. Minutes were
approved with housekeeping corrections.
Ron Stubbings reported that the Vice
President Network had recently had their
first meeting of the year and that another
http://www.sonsofnorway.com
Viking Magazine - August 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Viking Magazine - August 2015
