After holding its annual meeting earlier this month, the Freeman Community Development Corporation (FCDC) has reorganized with a new executive team and new board members in place.
Pictured (from left to right) are the members of the newly-launched executive team: Jeff Buechler, immediate past president; Lee Dockendorf; treasurer; Courtney Unruh, president; Jake Tietje, vice president; and Evan Waltner, secretary.
New to the FCDC Board of Directors are David Downs, Julie Oien, and Charles Harberts. They join the members of the executive team and the following board members who continue in their terms of service: Brad Anderson, Brad Gering, Marnette Hofer, Glenn Roth, Michael Walter, and Steve “Charly” Waltner.
FCDC’s mission is to foster and promote economic development, to support the community’s current business infrastructure, and to advance a positive quality of life in the Freeman community and its service area.
Carol Eisenbeis, employed as the full-time development and marketing coordinator for the City of Freeman, serves as the point of contact for FCDC from City Hall. In addition to her city responsibilities, a portion of her role also involves relaying communication on the corporation’s behalf, assisting FCDC committees in their work, and facilitating collaborative development and marketing efforts for the benefit of the Freeman community.
Eisenbeis has headed up development and marketing for the City of Freeman since April of 2019. She works closely with Mayor Michael Walter; Councilor Tabitha Schoenwald serves as her immediate supervisor.
The City of Freeman first established and funded a development coordinator position in 1994. Nine years later, when city leadership was restructured to include a city administrator, the development position was dissolved. When the city council voted to eliminate the city administrator position in the fall of 2016, a part-time development and marketing position was created and later extended to full-time.
FCDC’s current membership is comprised of approximately 80 community individuals, families, non-profits, and businesses.