Balzer perfect fit for Cal Poly capital effort
Daily Bulletin 5/4/07
Ortiz found the right man for the job when he hired Bob Balzer, the Daily Bulletin's CEO and publisher, to run Cal Poly's upcoming capital campaign.
We're not happy about losing Bob - far from it. We have the greatest admiration for him, as a leader of the newspaper and the community, and as a friend.
But we couldn't be happier about the way we're losing him. There is no local institution for which we have higher regard than Cal Poly Pomona, a truly diverse public university that gives Inland Valley kids a shot at a great, affordable education that can lead to any kind of success they're willing to work for.
Cal Poly's capital fund drive is critical to that mission. As Ortiz joked at the announcement of Balzer's hiring, "The Cal State Universities used to be state-funded, then they were state-supported, and now they're state-located." Funny, but not really. California no longer coughs up enough to keep its UCs and CSUs going, especially when it comes to capital needs.
Hence, the five- to seven-year capital campaign, whose fundraising goal will be in the neighborhood of $300 million. We can't imagine a better person to lead such as effort, which will formally begin in the fall of 2008 after a feasibility study and a review of funding and endowment needs.
Balzer, whose newspaper career started in 1969 with a part-time job at the Progress Bulletin while he attended Cal Poly, is a passionate supporter of education and a proven fundraiser for local colleges.
As president of the Chaffey College Foundation Board of Directors, Balzer created and hosted the college's telethon, which has raised more than $1 million over five years for scholarships and the Child Development Center. He was named a Chaffey College Alumnus of the Year in 2005.
Balzer hosted an event last year that raised $175,000 to buy equipment for Cal State San Bernardino's new College of Education building. He has served on Cal Poly's University Educational Trust since 2003.
He has targeted other needs as well. As publisher of the Daily Bulletin, Balzer joined with Pomona First Federal on a relief effort after wildfires ravaged the local foothills in 2003. Readers and others contributed more than $40,000 in cash and tons of supplies - at least 10 truckloads of clothing and eight truckloads of food - to help fire victims.
The same year, Balzer partnered the Bulletin with the Hafif Family Foundation to start the "Concerts Under the Stars" series, which has raised $767,705 over four years for Inland Valley nonprofits.
That's quite a record. Balzer knows his community - he has lived here since he was 4 years old, after all - and its needs, and he addresses them.
Not only that, but Balzer is keen on Cal Poly's involvement in the city of Pomona's ongoing efforts to improve itself.
Sorry, readers - if you were looking for a hard-hitting or dispassionate editorial today, you came to the wrong place. We love this guy, and we wish him and Cal Poly Pomona great success together.