Jerry Bisgrove is a man of deep faith, and his work in trying to revive Auburn and Cayuga County will not be just about money and economic development. It will also be about families and the values they pass on to their children
During his speech at the Cayuga County Chamber of Commerce dinner Thursday, in which the Auburn native and philanthropist pledged $15 million in grants and incentive money over the next five to seven years, Bisgrove talked repeatedly about values and his belief in God.
At the event, the nearly 400 people in attendance were given information on the Stardust Foundation of Central New York, and it beginnings in Arizona back in 1992. The foundation's mission statement is very clear about what is important to Bisgrove. It's broken down into three sections - Individual Responsibility, Spiritual Values, And Partnership with the Community.
“Jerry's entire mission in life in life is helping the underprivileged. One of his mainstays is helping the working poor, families that have trouble staying ahead,” said Robert Pine, a long-time friend of the Bisgrove family and a board member for the Stardust Foundation of Central New York.
The greatest example of that spirit is the South Ranch affordable housing community, the largest project of its kind ever undertook by Habitat for Humanity. Located just five miles from downtown Phoenix, in one of the hottest housing
market in the nation over the past decade, South Ranch is a thriving community with close to 200 Habitat for Humanity homes built for the working poor.
It has proved a remarkable success story. While the high school graduation rate for the parents at South Ranch was below 60 percent, Bisgrove is extremely proud that their children are now graduating high school at more than a 95-percent rate after having found greater stability in their neighborhood of brightly-colored homes.
Bisgrove once considered becoming a priest, attending a seminary in Rochester for nearly a year before changing direction and enrolling at Niagara University. Niagara is a religious-based school, and its mission follows the work of St. Vincent de Paul, a 17th century priest who served the poor and oppressed.
One story is telling of Bisgrove's depth of faith.
When the Stardust Foundation was about 18 months old, a well-known university dean - who Bisgrove smilingly declined to identify - came into his office “and he made a major, major mistake.” The dean tried to convince Bisgrove to change his mission statement.
“He thought it was extremely important to get God out of the mission statement,” said Bisgrove, who then recalled why the dean thought it best. “He said, 'That word causes too many problems. And how do you interpret God? So, if you really want to market this thing pure, you got to get God out of your mission statement.'”
“And I love academia, I really do. But, in this case, God stayed and academia left.”
“Jerry's a very humble and caring man, Pin said. ”He's also a very religious man, as is his brother and myself. Not that we're evangelists. We don't promote. But I certainly believe in God, and I believe there is a reason everything happens.“
Bisgrove graduated from Niagara University in 1968. Nearly 40 years later, he donated $5 million to the school, the largest gift in it history. His Stardust Foundation has provided more than $60 million to various organizations since its inception in 1992.
Since its inception, Stardust Real Estate Holdings has developed 132 subdivisions in Arizona that have a total of more than 75,000 building lots. All of the profits from the Bisgrove's real estate ventures are spent by the Stardust Charitable Group.
Earlier this month, the Arizona foundation donated $25 million for engineering and scientific research to help establish Arizona as a leader in high-tech growth. The Stardust grant will be matched by the state. For his efforts, Bisgrove was termed a “visionary” in an editorial by The Arizona Republic newspaper entitled “Our brilliant future.”
He is so well-regarded in Arizona that he's the first recipient of two prestigious awards established by a pair of the state's most influential institutions. In June, Bisgrove was one of two executives given the Transformational Leadership Award by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The year before, Bisgrove was awarded the first-ever President's Medal of Excellence from Arizona State University.
In a statement, ASU President Michael Crow said they honored Bisgrove for “acting on his vision through an unwavering commitment to social and economic development in Arizona.”
The Bisgrove family is certainly well-known in Auburn. Gerald “Jerry” Bisgrove is the youngest of four children. His father, John, owned the successful Red Star Express Lines trucking company.
At 14, Jerry started working on the docks at Red Star. His father insisted he graduate college before being any management position might become available, and Bisgrove considered becoming a priest and spent six months at a seminary in Rochester before enrolling at Niagara.
Now based in New Jersey, Red Star was sold in 1987 for more than $100 million to TNT Limited of Sydney, Australia. Bisgrove and his wife, Debi, moved to Arizona, in a town called Paradise Valley just outside of Phoenix, in 1991. The following year, he started the Stardust Cos. and their goal was simple - take the profits from their real estate ventures and use them to help others.
“The market in 1986, a sale had to happen to Red Star,” said Bisgrove, citing deregulation in the trucking industry as a major factor. “But that forced another beginning, and that beginning was Stardust companies.”
While it is often a clichÇ, it was certainly true Thursday that you could hear a pin drop during Bisgrove's speech. Speaking to a crowd that was filled with many long-time friends, Bisgrove frequently became emotional.
His father was “a pretty simple guy. On Sunday morning, after church, you light a candle.” His mother taught him kindness and respect, his older siblings looked out for their kid brother.
To people to whom “much has been given, much is expected,” Bisgrove said. “I have been blessed with financial resources. But I have been truly blessed with the understanding that the greatest resource in the world is family and friends.”
His beloved wife, Debi, died in January. She was his partner in forming the Stardust Foundation, and the ache of missing her was obvious.
“She was my teacher. She was my soulmate. She was the essence of my values,” Bisgrove said.
“The first challenge I'd like to give you - bring your children home, bring your grandchildren home. You have the power. You HAVE the power,” Bisgrove said. “I know you've got the power because I'm looking from the outside in.”
Pine certainly believes Bisgrove's vision and talents could build Auburn into a boom town itself over the next five years.
Pine has known Jerry and Jack Bisgrove for more than 30 years. An accountant and financial expert, Pine is also on the board of directors at Cayuga Community College and CCC's foundation. He did work for Red Star Express Lines, when they were based in New Jersey, beginning in the 1970s.
“We're not in the business of just giving money away. It's got be a partnership. This won't be annual annuity type things, there has to be buy-in from the recipients. And it has to be for community projects,” said Pine, who was quick to contradict some in the community who expressed cynicism over the Stardust initiative's chances of succeeding.
“If this area pays attention, and signs on and gets the momentum going, this could be a transformative process,” Pine said.
At the event, the nearly 400 people in attendance were given information on the Stardust Foundation of Central New York, and it beginnings in Arizona back in 1992. The foundation's mission statement is very clear about what is important to Bisgrove. It's broken down into three sections - Individual Responsibility, Spiritual Values, And Partnership with the Community.
“Jerry's entire mission in life in life is helping the underprivileged. One of his mainstays is helping the working poor, families that have trouble staying ahead,” said Robert Pine, a long-time friend of the Bisgrove family and a board member for the Stardust Foundation of Central New York.
The greatest example of that spirit is the South Ranch affordable housing community, the largest project of its kind ever undertook by Habitat for Humanity. Located just five miles from downtown Phoenix, in one of the hottest housing
market in the nation over the past decade, South Ranch is a thriving community with close to 200 Habitat for Humanity homes built for the working poor.
It has proved a remarkable success story. While the high school graduation rate for the parents at South Ranch was below 60 percent, Bisgrove is extremely proud that their children are now graduating high school at more than a 95-percent rate after having found greater stability in their neighborhood of brightly-colored homes.
Bisgrove once considered becoming a priest, attending a seminary in Rochester for nearly a year before changing direction and enrolling at Niagara University. Niagara is a religious-based school, and its mission follows the work of St. Vincent de Paul, a 17th century priest who served the poor and oppressed.
One story is telling of Bisgrove's depth of faith.
When the Stardust Foundation was about 18 months old, a well-known university dean - who Bisgrove smilingly declined to identify - came into his office “and he made a major, major mistake.” The dean tried to convince Bisgrove to change his mission statement.
“He thought it was extremely important to get God out of the mission statement,” said Bisgrove, who then recalled why the dean thought it best. “He said, 'That word causes too many problems. And how do you interpret God? So, if you really want to market this thing pure, you got to get God out of your mission statement.'”
“And I love academia, I really do. But, in this case, God stayed and academia left.”
“Jerry's a very humble and caring man, Pin said. ”He's also a very religious man, as is his brother and myself. Not that we're evangelists. We don't promote. But I certainly believe in God, and I believe there is a reason everything happens.“
Bisgrove graduated from Niagara University in 1968. Nearly 40 years later, he donated $5 million to the school, the largest gift in it history. His Stardust Foundation has provided more than $60 million to various organizations since its inception in 1992.
Since its inception, Stardust Real Estate Holdings has developed 132 subdivisions in Arizona that have a total of more than 75,000 building lots. All of the profits from the Bisgrove's real estate ventures are spent by the Stardust Charitable Group.
Earlier this month, the Arizona foundation donated $25 million for engineering and scientific research to help establish Arizona as a leader in high-tech growth. The Stardust grant will be matched by the state. For his efforts, Bisgrove was termed a “visionary” in an editorial by The Arizona Republic newspaper entitled “Our brilliant future.”
He is so well-regarded in Arizona that he's the first recipient of two prestigious awards established by a pair of the state's most influential institutions. In June, Bisgrove was one of two executives given the Transformational Leadership Award by the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The year before, Bisgrove was awarded the first-ever President's Medal of Excellence from Arizona State University.
In a statement, ASU President Michael Crow said they honored Bisgrove for “acting on his vision through an unwavering commitment to social and economic development in Arizona.”
The Bisgrove family is certainly well-known in Auburn. Gerald “Jerry” Bisgrove is the youngest of four children. His father, John, owned the successful Red Star Express Lines trucking company.
At 14, Jerry started working on the docks at Red Star. His father insisted he graduate college before being any management position might become available, and Bisgrove considered becoming a priest and spent six months at a seminary in Rochester before enrolling at Niagara.
Now based in New Jersey, Red Star was sold in 1987 for more than $100 million to TNT Limited of Sydney, Australia. Bisgrove and his wife, Debi, moved to Arizona, in a town called Paradise Valley just outside of Phoenix, in 1991. The following year, he started the Stardust Cos. and their goal was simple - take the profits from their real estate ventures and use them to help others.
“The market in 1986, a sale had to happen to Red Star,” said Bisgrove, citing deregulation in the trucking industry as a major factor. “But that forced another beginning, and that beginning was Stardust companies.”
While it is often a clichÇ, it was certainly true Thursday that you could hear a pin drop during Bisgrove's speech. Speaking to a crowd that was filled with many long-time friends, Bisgrove frequently became emotional.
His father was “a pretty simple guy. On Sunday morning, after church, you light a candle.” His mother taught him kindness and respect, his older siblings looked out for their kid brother.
To people to whom “much has been given, much is expected,” Bisgrove said. “I have been blessed with financial resources. But I have been truly blessed with the understanding that the greatest resource in the world is family and friends.”
His beloved wife, Debi, died in January. She was his partner in forming the Stardust Foundation, and the ache of missing her was obvious.
“She was my teacher. She was my soulmate. She was the essence of my values,” Bisgrove said.
“The first challenge I'd like to give you - bring your children home, bring your grandchildren home. You have the power. You HAVE the power,” Bisgrove said. “I know you've got the power because I'm looking from the outside in.”
Pine certainly believes Bisgrove's vision and talents could build Auburn into a boom town itself over the next five years.
Pine has known Jerry and Jack Bisgrove for more than 30 years. An accountant and financial expert, Pine is also on the board of directors at Cayuga Community College and CCC's foundation. He did work for Red Star Express Lines, when they were based in New Jersey, beginning in the 1970s.
“We're not in the business of just giving money away. It's got be a partnership. This won't be annual annuity type things, there has to be buy-in from the recipients. And it has to be for community projects,” said Pine, who was quick to contradict some in the community who expressed cynicism over the Stardust initiative's chances of succeeding.
“If this area pays attention, and signs on and gets the momentum going, this could be a transformative process,” Pine said.
The Citizens' Say
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cheeko wrote on Oct 28, 2007 9:45 PM:
carole wrote on Oct 28, 2007 12:18 PM: