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Joining forces

ACE hires two directors to promote cultural center

—Daily Freeman-Journal photo by Adri Sietstra ACE Community Center recently hired two Hamilton County residents to fill their need for an executive director. Pictured above are ACE Property Director Jose Burgos, left, ACE Program Director Janet Toering, middle, and ACE Business Director Manuel Alvarez.

ACE Community Center found a new and unique way to fill their executive director position. After deliberating and seeking out applicants, two Hamilton County individuals will be stepping up to the position. The partnership will give advanced expertise in business administration and property issues.

“We have been looking for an executive director for about three or four months now,” said Janet Toering, ACE program director. “We decided to divide up the executive director position into two positions to cover things that I couldn’t cover.”

Toering, former executive director, stepped down from the position July 1. Toering has been the ACE Executive Director for the last five years.

“Everything that we do has to hopefully stimulate donations or grants or partnerships, even beyond Hamilton County,” Toering said. “The cool thing about these two guys is they have ideas beyond Iowa and the United States to get recognition of ACE.”

Manuel Alvarez, 51, will be the executive director for business administration. He is from Guadalajara, Mexico. He resides in Jewell. Alvarez and his wife, Irene have four children. He has a background in business administration. Alvarez has been working at Iowa Select Farms for the past two years.

Alvarez applied for the position in order to give back to the community and bring people of all backgrounds together to make Hamilton County a better place.

“One of my goals is integrating the Hispanic community. There are so many people from different countries here. We need to update them on the social issues in Webster City,” said Alvarez.

Alvarez is excited to get to know more people in the community and develop relationships.

Jose Burgos, 41, will be the executive director for property. Burgos works for the USDA and RCS. He came to Webster City a year and a half ago. Burgos is originally from Puerto Rico and has lived in Miami and New York. He and his wife live in Webster City with their daughter.

“I’d like to give something back to the community,” said Burgos. “We want to make ACE a place for everybody. It’s not just for Latinos or people from other countries. It’s for everybody.”

“The cool part about this is we can have a combined team,” Toering said. “They are both passionate about what we do here.”

According to Toering, there are an estimated 40 programs currently going on at ACE throughout the year. ESL courses, Spanish classes, summer garden activities for all ages and BINGO are just a small sampling of what ACE currently offers the community.

A new class, Practical English and Spanish, will begin at ACE on Wednesday, July 26. The six-week class will take place each Wednesday at 6 p.m. and go until 7:30 p.m.

This class is a great option for those who wish to learn the building blocks of either English or Spanish. Students will learn basic everyday phrases with native speakers of both English and Spanish. The cost of the class is determined by number of participants. For more information about the class, call ACE at (515) 832-4153. ACE Community Center is located at 1440 East Second St.

Toering also encourages anyone interested in seeing what ACE has been up to for the past year to attend their upcoming annual board meeting.The ACE Community Center/All Cultures Equal, Inc. annual board meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 19 at 6 p.m. at ACE. The public is welcome. Anyone interested in being a charter friend on “Friends of ACE”, or would like to see what has happened at ACE during the 2016-17 fiscal year is welcome to attend. Those interested in attending the meeting are encouraged to call ACE as there will be a light supper before the meeting.

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