Bigger Girl Scout Council Gets $80,000 Local Boost

By Bob Caylor, The News-Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Ind.

Apr. 9–Girl Scouts of Limberlost Council is growing into a new, larger council that includes 20 counties in Indiana and two in southwest Michigan, local officials and Girl Scout administrators planned to announce today.

Keeping the headquarters of the consolidated Girl Scouts of Northern Indiana-Michiana Council in Fort Wayne has economic benefits for Fort Wayne — enough so that local economic-development interests are contributing up to $80,000 to aid the consolidation.

It keeps the administrative and support jobs of the Limberlost Council in place in Fort Wayne. Sherri Weidman, chief executive officer of the Limberlost Council, said 26 full- and part-time workers are employed by the council. She doesn’t know how many new jobs will be created in Fort Wayne as a result of the consolidation.

The consolidation combines the Limberlost Council with the Indiana Lakeland Girl Scout Council, headquartered in Goshen. It also includes parts of Girl Scouts of Singing Sands Council, headquartered in South Bend, and Girl Scouts of Tribal Trails Council, headquartered in Logansport. The new council is scheduled to begin operating in October.

Weidman said the consolidation that includes the Limberlost Council is part of a national push by Girl Scouts USA to consolidate councils, reducing their number from 312 to 109. Weidman said about two-thirds of the country’s councils have been consolidated.

The city of Fort Wayne will provide a grant of $14,000 for information technology improvements in the consolidation. WorkOne Northeast will provide a package of assistance for filling new positions that will include Work Keys job analyses, applicant assessments, customized recruitment, screening and computer training valued at up to $66,240.

The new Girl Scouts of Northern Indiana-Michiana Council will be located in the Mary Jane McMillen Crowe Leadership and Learning Center, 10008 Dupont Circle Drive E., Fort Wayne. That center opened in October 2006. Maintaining it as a headquarters for Girl Scouts will allow membership and program growth in a debt-free facility, according to the Girl Scouts.

Weidman said girls and adult volunteers involved in Girl Scouts should see changes for the better soon after the consolidation. Because the national Girl Scout leadership is consolidating councils to reduce administration costs, more money will be available to provide services.

“We’ll be able to offer more opportunities. There will be more resources to be used at the girl level, at the program level,” Weidman said.

The consolidated council will be looking for underserved areas, so Girl Scouts may expand the programs it offers in local schools. Those might include expansions of programs in conflict resolution, for example, or the “Baby Think It Over” program that saddles teenage girls with dolls that simulate the challenges infants present.

Few Girl Scout leaders are the stay-home mothers who once led troops. Instead, Weidman said, volunteers have more demands on their time, and the reorganization should provide support for volunteers who can’t commit as much time to working with Girl Scouts.

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