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Board helps fuel YMCA growth

May 5, 2005 1:09 am

Sean O'Connell grew up in a community that didn't have a YMCA.

After moving to this area, the Fredericksburg resident learned what he had missed out on. The Rappahannock Area YMCA was teaching kids how to swim, helping keep them out of trouble and promoting healthy fitness.

He joined the organization's 10-member board in 1991 because he wanted to be a part of growing and expanding those services.

Fourteen years later, the area Y boasts the second-largest facility in Virginia. And its regional board of directors--made up of savvy people such as O'Connell, an accountant with PBGH, and Jon Wallace, a president for First Market Bank, among others--is aggressively pursuing expansion in surrounding counties.

"You haven't seen anything yet," O'Connell said. "They are going to be all over the place."

The Y's progress has come, in large part, from a board of directors that feels strongly about the organization's mission.

"We are all passionate about having a successful YMCA organization," Wallace said.

The Y has meant a lot to Wallace because his children, now teenagers, used it so much when they were on swim teams.

Not all communities are seeing their Y's grow as quickly and successfully as the one here.

But years ago, the Massad branch on Butler Road didn't have much of a story to tell, either.

When Buddy Fredette joined the nonprofit's board of directors in the early '90s, the most exciting service it offered was the pool. The locker rooms didn't have air conditioning, and members practically needed four-wheel drive to get into the parking lot because of the potholes.

But efforts to fix those problems at the southern Stafford County location marked the beginning of a transition for the area Y.

The facility, which opened in 1982, saw its first major additions--including a gymnasium, fitness center, expanded parking and sauna and steam rooms--in 1997.

But many improvements and expansions have happened in just the last four years.

The Massad branch added racquetball courts in 2001, indoor and outdoor tennis courts in 2002 and an indoor wellness pool last year.

The Y opened a second location on Smith Station Road in Spotsylvania County in July 2003. The $3.2 million facility includes an aerobics studio, indoor pool, fitness center and basketball court gym, all which are larger than those offered in Falmouth.

With two locations up and running, membership has swelled to nearly 25,000. That's up from 1,500 when the Massad branch first opened.

And board members say there is more to come.

YMCA officials launched a fundraising campaign earlier this year to build a $5 million facility in North Stafford, complete with an indoor Olympic-sized pool.

And construction on a $1 million youth wing is set to start at the Massad branch this winter.

King George County supervisors agreed this week to help the Y build a $4.5 million facility there.

And Y officials have talked about opening an additional facility in Caroline.

"[The Rappahannock Area YMCA] is an organization that's gone from operating in the red to, every year since 1993, operating in the black," said Barney Reiley, chief executive officer for the organization.

He credits a strong board of directors, cooperation from members and large community support for the Y's ability to grow so quickly and successfully.

The YMCA's governing system is made up of a regional board of 10 members, which oversees a board at each facility. Many of the officials on the regional board have been members of the Y and its governing structure for more than 10 years.

And all of them have day jobs.

Wallace, who is also the Fredericksburg president of First Market Bank, said board members have brought various skills to the table that have helped in the organization's overall success.

"I may offer advice about financing something. Phillip Sasser [a Spotsylvania lawyer] may know how to structure a transaction from a legal perspective. And Buddy Fredette, who is a local developer, can offer advice from a developer's standpoint," he said.

The board, which includes many of the area's well-known business leaders, legal officials and financial experts, first helped improve the YMCA's financial situation by revamping the organizational structure.

Fees were changed from a tiered system, where members paid for what they used, to a one-for-all rate plan in 1993. And fees for some programs, such as fitness classes and the nursery, were included. Reiley said that initial change increased the Y's cash flow and allowed it to make repairs to the facility and offer more options to members.

The financial stability brought on by those changes opened the door for greater community support, more members and facility expansion.

"In order to aggressively raise money, we wanted to deliver a product that was not losing money," Reiley said.

According to the organization's Form 990 tax returns, the local YMCA had a yearly excess of $199,863 in 2001 and $552,867 in 2003.

Reiley said money left over at the end of the year is pumped back into programs and facility expansion.

"We have grown in a very judicial manner to never jeopardize the future of the organization," Reiley said. "It's grown into a large organization that has required a huge commitment of volunteers in the community."

The organization's budget this year is about $6 million, and growing.

Seventy-five percent of the budget comes from membership dues, Reiley said. Members now pay $60 monthly for a family, $44 for an adult, $25 for a young adult and $15 for a child.

Nationally, for-profits charge an average of $55 a month for individual memberships, according to the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association. Private gyms in the Fredericksburg area, such as Highlander Health and Fitness in downtown Fredericksburg, typically charge less than that. Highlander charges $42 monthly for an individual membership.

Reiley said an additional 20 percent of the Y's budget comes from programs, and the remaining 5 percent is from annual donations.

Local businesses and individuals contributed more than $1.25 million toward the construction of the Spotsylvania facility.

And the Y is more than halfway toward its goal of $1.5 million in donations for the North Stafford branch.

Three major gifts have already earned the Y close to $1 million.

"[Our donation] is one way that we decided that we could give back to the community in a very broad sense," said Paul Gitlin, president of Century 21 TEAM Real Estate.

He and his wife, Debbie, vice president of the company, declined to say how much they donated. But their gift will let them name the pool.

Also, local car dealer Ron Rosner has pledged $500,000 for naming the entire facility. And Progressive Automotive is giving $50,000 to name the aerobics room.

The organization has grown not only because of community support, but also because of the demand for services in the Fredericksburg area, Fredette said.

Spotsylvania, Stafford and King George counties are three of the fastest-growing communities in Virginia, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

If expansions continue as planned, Reiley said, he expects the area YMCA to have 50,000 members and a $15 million to $20 million budget in two to three years.

"It's very satisfying to see how far financially we've come," Wallace said. "It's very satisfying to see all of these other counties beating our door down trying to get us to come to their area. It's exciting to be in a financial position to be able to do that stuff."

To reach MEGHANN COTTER: 540/374-5434 mcotter@freelancestar.com