Community Development Leaders

Community Development Leaders

Thursday, 07 June 2007

Michelle Pundt, Secretary, Pfriends Pfor Pflugerville’s Pfuture

The ongoing joke in Michelle Pundt’s family is that she moved to Austin because she wanted to see something green other than a prickly pear cactus.

“My hometown is in a desolate area of Texas,” she said. “I grew up watching people who performed long hours of manual labor or commuted at least an hour each way to San Antonio to earn a living. Both my parents were self-employed, which is why I have initiative, determination and a sense of humor for the obvious.”

Pundt recently received her bachelor’s degree through the University of Phoenix’s online program while working full time as the City of Pflugerville’s grant writer, which led to her involvement in Pfriends Pfor Pflugerville’s Pfuture.

Q. How did you become involved with Pf4 and what is your role?

A. David Buesing, the Pf4 president, asked me if I would be interested. I began writing grants for the City of Pflugerville and Pf4 in 2004. As Pf4’s secretary, I keep the board informed of all of the organization’s prospective activities and voting on accepted projects. Pf4’s activities include helping coordinate local events as well as writing and submitting grant proposals to private foundations, corporations and local donors. Pf4 actively engages local civic and community groups for our approved projects, so public relations, marketing and project management are required to make our collaborative efforts successful.

Q. Describe your perspective on the value of community involvement.

A. Community involvement is a priceless, indescribable opportunity for personal and professional growth. There are tangible things gained by those in need, but there are invaluable rewards reaped by those who volunteer. Moreover, recorded history repeatedly outlines that the number of people involved is not always proportionate to an outcome.

Q. Where do you hope to see Pflugerville in the future?

A. I hope that Pflugerville retains its neighbor-helping-neighbor attitude, and the number of volunteers grows proportionately to the community’s changing needs.

Q. What do you value most about the community?

A. That is an easy answer: the people. There are citizens who care fervently about the community, and those who are very quiet about the tasks they perform. Each person is unique and has different things that motivate him or her. However, the reward of a cohesive group with common, positive goals is invaluable.

• Education: Attended Baylor Univ.; Bachelor’s degree from the University of Phoenix
• Family: One daughter
• Contact Information: 990-4363 ext. 306, mpundt@cityofpflugerville.com

 

John Avery, Chair, Momentum

John Avery said that any profile of himself must include his brothers Charles and Nelson and sister Christina Fell.

“We make all decisions as a family,” he said.

The siblings are the family’s fifth-generation of Texan Americans, and credit Swedish ancestors Arvid and Anna Lena Nelson with planting the family in Williamson County in 1854.

Together they manage the land the Nelsons settled, pieces of which were donated for the Round Rock Higher Education Center and future Seton Hospital and Austin Community College campus.

To further his involvement in Round Rock, Avery sits as chair of Momentum, the funding arm of the city’s economic development.

Q. What motivated your family to donate the 101-acres of land for education facilities?

A. [My ancestors] came here 18 years after the fall of the Alamo when there was nothing here, and they managed not only to survive but to prosper. Their property here has been intact since the 1860s and ‘70s, and that comes with a special burden if you love history as I do. When you think about the effort and the passion about these early pioneers, you can’t sell that land for tract houses; you have to make it stand out. What better testament to their efforts than a college and hospital?

Q. How do facilities such as these benefit a city?

A. The ultimate test of a city is if the people have pride in it and want to make it better for those here now and those coming. With emphasis on education and medical facilities, we’re able to give our citizens a chance at better health and give our young students and adults an opportunity at a better education here in Round Rock. A better-educated workforce entices business to come here.

Q. Why was the Momentum group created?

A. In most cities, the city handles the expenses of economic development through a sales tax. [Round Rock’s half-cent sales tax is dedicated to transportation.] In Round Rock, economic development falls on the chamber of commerce, so the folks in charge decided to create a separate economic partnership between the city and businesses. The idea is to put funds from the Momentum-member businesses with a matching amount from the city.

Q. What is one thing you love about Round Rock?

A. Some people spend all day driving around town in their car. I park my car at my house and don’t get in it again because I can walk to city hall, to a restaurant and such.

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in history and government, 1968, and School of Law, 1970, University of Texas
• Family: Wife, Judy, and grown children Julie, Jana and John
• Contact Information: 255-5288, johnsavery@msn.com