Community groups can look forward to more funding from the Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) over the next few years, as the organization raked in the cash this year.
According to CBT President and CEO Neil Muth the Trust’s profits increased by more than two million in the 2010-2011 fiscal year, meaning there’s more money in the bank to fund community initiatives.
“We’re in a strong financial position, our revenues did increase and we look forward at least three years in our planning cycle and we continue to expect our financial performance will continue to be strong,” he said.
The extra revenue will be used to strengthen existing programs but also create several new ones. One of those is the Community Directed Youth Funds (CDYF), which will pilot in six communities this fall and provide them with $100,000 of funding over four years for youth ages 12 to 19.
It will aim at increasing activities, opportunities and services for youth and will be available to other communities over the next two years.
Muth added that over the next few months a few major initiatives would be announced but kept quiet about what those exactly entailed.
“Given the increase in revenue and the funds that we have available for spending we’ll be putting them to use in the communities and in priorities that we’re being advised by communities that we need to focus on.”
CBT isn’t formula driven, meaning the funding won’t be divided equally between the four regional areas the CBT works in but they do try to balance their contributions over time, Muth said.
The profit increase is a result of the CBT’s growing and maturing investment program and Muth is pleased with the final financial numbers.
“In a time when a lot organizations are under a lot of financial pressure it’s very fortunate for us to be in a strong position,” he stated.
The CBT currently funds local programs and organizations like the LeRoi Community Foundation, the Water Smart Initative, the Waneta Dam expansion and several student scholarships and work place programs.
For more information on the CDYF, contact Wayne Lundeberg at 250-304-1625 or cdyf@cbt.org.