Sedalia, Missouri – The State Fair Community College Foundation welcomed Russell Childers, Erica Petersen and Kent Harbit to its Board of Directors at its Nov. 21 meeting on the Sedalia campus.
Childers, a lifelong Sedalia resident, began investing in real estate at 19 years of age, graduated from Otterville High School and attended SFCC Vocational Technology auto mechanics and agriculture classes his junior and senior years of high school. He is president of RAC-JAC Properties Incorporated, which owns and manages numerous types of business and real estate ventures. Childers also has served as a board member for Central Bank of Missouri and Sacred Heart Administration Commission.
“SFCC has given a lot to the Sedalia area in many ways,” said Childers. “Serving on the foundation is my small opportunity to give something back and show my gratitude.”
Erica Petersen, AVP, Business Development Coordinator and Marketing Director at Central Bank of Sedalia, graduated from Cole Camp High School and earned an Associate of Arts degree from SFCC in 2003. She graduated from University of Central Missouri with a Bachelor in Finance. Petersen has been in banking since 2000 where she started as a teller and progressed to her current role in Business Development.
“I am so very excited to be a part of the foundation board,” Petersen wrote in her submitted bio. “Going to SFCC was a great experience! … Having a higher education facility within our city limits, educating our future workforce, is a vital piece to our community. Being part of the foundation board allows me to see the amazing work of the college and champion the amazing things the college does for its students and communities. I am honored and excited to see where this journey will take me!”
Kent Harbit worked at SFCC for more than 34 years and retired in December 2018 as Facilities Management senior maintenance technician. He has lived in Windsor all of his life and attended Warrensburg Vocational Technical School. He graduated from SFCC in 2003. Harbit is a member of the Blacksmiths Association of Missouri and serves as first vice-president.
“I was interested in being on the (foundation) board because after working more than 34 years at SFCC, I had a lot of my life invested in SFCC and still want to be involved in it,” said Harbit.
Childers and Harbit will each serve three-year terms ending in 2022. Petersen will serve a two-year term ending 2021.
The foundation, a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation, was established in 1981 to raise funds to meet SFCC’s needs. Its mission is to support and assist the college in serving the community by providing accessible, quality educational programs and services.
