New Valpo Parks Foundation Board Members Announced: Jim Cunningham, Jacki Stutzman, Erin Urschel, Matthew D. Vessely
Jim Cunningham is the Chief Financial Officer of Task Force Tips, Inc. a leading firefighting equipment company. He has been a resident of Valparaiso since May of 1996. Cunningham is a graduate of Northern Illinois University with a B.S. in Accounting.
In addition to his nine years of service with Task Force Tips, Cunningham has extensive experience with non-profit organizations. He was a Senior Manager with Grant Thornton in Chicago in their not-for-profit sector for five years before taking the position as the Salvation Army’s Divisional Finance Director for the Chicago Metropolitan Division. After his tenure with The Salvation Army, Cunningham moved to Elmhurst College where he served as the Vice President for Finance and Administration for two and a half years before returning to Task Force Tips in December of 2014.
Cunningham has volunteered in various organizations over the years, including the Valparaiso Rotary Club where he served as the Treasurer for six years, a board member for the Valparaiso University Credit Union (now First Trust Credit Union), and a board member for Whispering Pines Nursing Home. Additionally, he served as a volunteer coach for several years in baseball and soccer programs in Valparaiso and in Oak Lawn, IL prior to moving to Indiana.
Cunningham’s favorite activity is spending time with his wife of 31 years, Sue, their five children and their grandson. Jim has said that moving to Valparaiso back in 1996 was one of the best decisions he and Sue ever made, and he looks forward to serving the Valparaiso community.
Jacki Stutzman lived in Texas for thirty-six years of her adult life where being a “native Texan” was a big deal. To her, being a native Hoosier is an even bigger deal. She was born in Wabash, raised in Valparaiso, and received a BS in Education from Indiana University and an MS in Education from Butler University.
She left Indiana in 1970 to serve as a congressional aide in the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC. She married, moved to Texas and taught school for twenty-six years before retiring and turning to ranching and raising quarter horses. She came back to Valparaiso in 2009 to be near her family, Ken and Laura Blaney, and their four children. Being Aunt Jacki is the delight of her life and volunteering is her passion.
Stutzman is a board member at the Valparaiso Family YMCA, the Porter County Community Foundation, Lakeshore PAWS and the Memorial Opera House Foundation where she currently serves as president. Stutzman and her 4 rescue dogs live in south Porter County.
Erin Urschel is originally from the Texas Hill Country, grew up knowing only two seasons; cold and HOT. Urschel has grown to love the Valparaiso area over the last ten years as she has adjusted to a life with 4 seasons. Her pleasure in the outdoors has been fostered by the hard-working Valparaiso Parks Department and she is thrilled to have a chance to work with the team that helps make Valparaiso such a wonderful community.
Urschel lives in Valparaiso with her husband Rick and two daughters, Ellie and Calista. A native of San Marcos, Texas, Urschel earned her bachelor’s degree in Communication Design from Texas State University. Prior to motherhood, Urschel worked as a graphic designer and marketing coordinator for local architecture firm, Design Organization. She now focuses on her young family and a select group of community organizations.
Urschel serves on the Valparaiso Art Advisory Committee, Housing Opportunities Due Diligence Committee, and is a member of Tri Kappa’s Iota Chapter serving as Publicity Co-Chair.
Matt Vessely of 1st Source Bank, a North Judson native, returns to the area with more than 25 years of diverse banking and management experience; including Senior Vice President level roles in Business Banking, Commercial Banking and Product Management. Early in his career, Vessely was a Commercial Banker and Regional Manager at First National Bank, Valparaiso, now a part of 1st Source.
Vessely received an M.B.A. with a Finance Concentration from Indiana University and a B.A. in Economics from Wabash College. He is also a graduate of the Indiana Bankers Association Commercial Lending School and Agricultural Banking School.
Officer elections also took place at the regular December meeting of the Parks Foundation Board on December 17. Jon Schmaltz of Burke Costanza Carberry will serve a two-year term as President of the twenty-member Board, with Jamie Sulcer of Chicago Title Group being elected Vice-President and Tim VerSchure of Lakeside Wealth Management Group returning as treasurer.
The Valparaiso Parks Foundation provides opportunities for the community to support the continuing legacy of high quality experiences provided by Valpo Parks. Most recently, they championed the rebirth of ValPLAYso playground into a second-generation community-built project on its twentieth anniversary. Additionally and almost simultaneously, the Foundation also advocated for partnerships to help complete the expansion of Central Park Plaza from August 2014 to August 2015. To find out more about the Valpo Parks Foundation, interested parties should contact John Seibert at the Valpo Parks office.