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Changes are afoot at 425 E. Harrison St. in Bluffton, and it’s not just because there’s new sheriff in town.
After 16 years of leading Bi-County Services, John Whicker announced his retirement this spring. The volunteer board of directors that governs the non-profit agency selected Tim Ramsey, 54 of Decatur, as their new president, effective April 5.
Ramsey, like Whicker before him, comes to the job with 25 years of industrial management experience.
Bi-County Services provides residential services and day programs for people with intellectual disabilities in Wells and Adams counties. Many of these people also have physical disabilities.
Whicker remains on the job as a consultant, helping Ramsey learn the complexities of managing the organization’s ten locations, the funding from government entities and regulations that go along with caring for people with disabilities. The timetable for his full retirement is not set. “We’ll play it by ear,”
Whicker says, but notes that he has begun reducing his hours there.
“Tim’s picking up on things quite well,” Whicker says. “But I know how much there is to learn.”
Ramsey has charted just a portion of the organization on a whiteboard in his office. “It’s helped me visualize things better,” he says.
If all that were not enough of a challenge, the state, as part of their budget-reducton moves, has essentially cut funding to BCS by 10 percent.
“That’s been the huge challenge essentially from my first day here,” Ramsey says. “Dealing with these cutbacks by the state on top of learning the ins and outs of a complex organization.”
But the kicker to this, Whicker adds: “we cannot reduce any services to our clients.” The letter from the state agency that oversees funding for agencies such as Bi-County says “this will not result in a reduction of services.” Hence, the regulatory agency that oversees them essentially says BCS must provide the same services for their clients with 10 percent less funds.
The cutbacks amount to just over $200,000. Whicker and Ramsey, along with other staff, have been working to identify budget cuts that will not impact the clients. “It really makes it tough,” Whicker says.
He notes that BCS has always tried to be as self supporting as possible. Bi-County has approximately 185 employees, 150 full time, and an annual budget of $5.8 million. Funding comes primarily from Medicaid, supplemented by Bi-County’s industrial sales and scented candles that their clients manufacture, which are sold at the A Different Light store in downtown Bluffton and through a few distributors.
BCS also receives support from Wells and Adams counties. Each county allocates $39,312 a year, “an amount that hasn’t changed in at least 15 years,” Whicker proudly says.
Although BCS is not-for-profit, “we’re like any business; there are business cycles,” he explains. “During good years, we have put money back. We also have a small administrative staff, and that’s by design.”
Ramsey presented a list of cutbacks to his board in early June. He is confident that BCS will be able to provide the same level of services to their clients.
“We have to be careful to not create any long-term problems by making short-term decisions,” he says. And Whicker has seen these ups and downs before. He is confident that the economy will improve and the state will reinstate rates to the prior levels.
Ramsey has found the staff to be open and understanding to the necessary changes. He is hopeful future cutbacks can be avoided and that some benefits that have to be pared back now can be reinstated.
“BCS has an excellent, caring staff that is focused on providing the best service possible for our consumers,” he says, adding “they treat the clients like friends.”
Ramsey has equally enjoyed getting to know the clients themselves. “Some of them are real characters,” he says with a chuckle.
Whicker adds that even after his years working with them, he continues to be “amazed.
“They are so perceptive about life in general, even with their disabilities,” he says. As an example, he points out, how they handle grief:
“They seem to get over the ‘emotional hill’ so to speak, much quicker,” he explains. “It’s not that they forget people because they do very well.”
“John’s help has been in valuable,” Ramsey adds. “I cannot imagine getting a grasp on all the details, complex funding structure and dealing with the different government units.”
Ramsey had spent the past 25 years in several leadership positions with Fleetwood Motor Homes of Indiana, Inc. in Decatur, most recently as national warranty manager for the Motor Home Group.
A Fort Wayne native, he holds a degree from International Business College and was the general manager of Ramsey Auto Glo Inc. in New Haven before joining Fleetwood in 1985.