Tribune staff reports
A rural Seymour man recently was elected to the Community Foundation of Jackson County’s board of directors.
Tony Wesner is not a stranger to the foundation or other philanthropic endeavors in the Jackson County community.
Wesner has worked with Rose Acre Farms since 1981, and the Brownstown native is now the chief operating officer at the Seymour-based family-owned egg-laying operation with farms in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Georgia, Texas, Arizona and Hawaii.
The company, which moved its headquarters to a new facility on Seymour’s west side in 2017, employs 2,300 full-time workers and produces more than 1.5 million dozens of eggs daily with its 25 million hens. In his capacity, Wesner also is president of RAF Transport, operating 80 tractors and 200 refrigerated trailers in the United States.
Serving U.S. and some global markets, Wesner oversees the company’s production and distribution of fresh shell eggs, dried egg whites, dried egg yolks and liquid egg products, generating about $400 million in annual sales.
Rose Acre Farms has been a foundation partner in the annual Gift of Grain program and a sponsor of the annual Farmers Breakfast in Brownstown.
Wesner has been involved with donations to a fund at the foundation that benefits Brownstown Christian Church, where he serves as an elder and has been involved with the church’s preschool ministry. The ministry is one of the county’s 13 providers of the On My Way Pre-K program offered with the assistance of the Jackson County Education Coalition, a supporting organization of the foundation.
Dan Davis, the foundation’s president and chief executive officer, said Wesner’s experience with the foundation and his passion for the community offer great value to the organization, its donors and to potential new donors.
Wesner will join the foundation’s grant committee, which reviews grant applications made through the fall grant cycle and other grant programs.
Wesner also serves as a member of the management board of directors at Opal Foods, an egg-laying operation in Neosho, Missouri, and Roggen, Colorado, with 6 million hens, and is a member of the management board of directors with Red River Egg in Bogata, Texas, with 2 million cage-free hens.
He is a member of the ag advisory council for Seymour Community Schools and is part of the environmental committee for United Egg Producers and a board member of the Missouri Egg Council.
Wesner and his wife of 35 years, Anita, have three children.
He joins 18 other members of the foundation’s board of directors.
Board Chairman Gary Meyer said Wesner will provide a great deal of expertise to move the foundation forward in the years to come along with the current board members.
The board’s 2018-19 officers are Priscilla Wischmeier of Seymour, the incoming chairwoman; Andy Royalty of Seymour, the incoming vice chairman; Mike Fleetwood of Crothersville, treasurer; and Dennis Wayman of Medora, secretary.
Other board members are Susan Bevers, Seymour; Trish Butt, Brownstown; Dr. Ron Harrison, Brownstown; Monica Hartung, Seymour; Tom Lantz, Seymour; Gary Meyer, Seymour; Gary Myers, Seymour; Sue Nehrt, Brownstown; Darrell Persinger, Medora; Vicki Johnson-Poynter, Seymour; Ron Sibert, Seymour; Marvin Veatch, Seymour; Ann Windley, Seymour; and Bruce Wynn, Reddington.
The foundation, created in 1992, made its first grants in 1994. Since then, the foundation has awarded more than $6 million in grants and scholarships across Jackson County. The charitable nonprofit administers nearly 200 funds with assets of more than $11 million.
For information about how you can make a donation to any of the funds administered by the foundation or how you might start a new fund, call 812-523-4483 or send an email to Davis at [email protected].