In March 2007, it was announced that the Jennings County community had received a $1 million trust to support scholarships for local residents the next 10 years. At that time, the identity of the donor was kept anonymous.

Now the donor is allowing his identity to be revealed.

In what has been called an extraordinary act of generosity, this gift was given by Stanley W. Snider, a leading Jennings County businessman and philanthropist. Snider has established with the Jennings County Community Foundation an $1 million trust to support scholarships for post high school education for the next 10 years.

“We were absolutely ecstatic with this incredibly generous gift,” said Brad Bender, president of the Community Foundation, “The generosity and foresight of Mr. Snider is a tribute to his stature as one of the leading businessmen of our community. The magnitude of this gift is absolutely incredible. It is the single largest gift ever given to the Foundation.”

Snider was born in 1929 in Indianapolis and was raised on his family’s farm near Pleasant View, Ind. His father was not only a farmer but also worked full time as a machinist and eventually opened a fertilizer company.

Working hard was a way of life and at the age of 14, Snider began working as an apprentice in a machine shop. He did this while excelling academically and athletically at Moral Township High School.

Immediately after graduating from high school, Snider left home, married and moved to Indianapolis where he began working at Western Electric, the largest electrical manufacturer in the United States at that time.

He worked full time, attended college classes at Purdue University in the evenings, responded to emergency equipment requests, worked weekends on his father’s farm, raised a family and, when necessary, worked a second job.

Snider demonstrated his innate leadership skills and strong competitive drive at work and elsewhere. He was quickly promoted into higher level positions eventually assuming responsibility for thousands of employees and millions of dollars of state of the art equipment.

By the time he was 30 years old, Snider was superintendent of Plastic Molding Operations at Western Electric’s Shadeland Plant, where every plastic part for the Bell Telephone System originated. Outside of work, Stan was active and excelled in a variety of activities including chess, bridge, Toastmasters and he enjoyed competing at local and state level tournaments.

In 1965, Snider was selected for a small team charged with opening a new Western Electric plant in Shreveport, La. It was a time of racial turbulence and the first year of imposed desegregation. The new plant was to be the first Equal Employment Opportunity (EEOC) employer in the area, which generated considerable public attention and political controversy. Snider personally hired the employees to work in the plant and for the first time in Louisiana African- Americans were employed in a factory alongside their white counterparts.

Snider’s strong character, social acumen and keen sensitivity to nuance enabled him to maneuver the many obstacles encountered and work with politicians at levels in Louisiana, from the local mayor to the state governor. The plant was opened successfully.

Eventually Snider’s desire for ever greater challenges motivated him to seek an independent course. In spite of offers for upper echelon executive positions at Western Electric, he left the company in 1971. His many years of experience enabled him to move comfortably between large corporations and small businesses, and to understand their respective business concerns and perspectives.

Soon Snider proved himself invaluable as a manufacturer’s representative. He established a primary customer base in Louisville, Cincinnati, Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis, and decided to locate his home at the nexus of this geographical triangle. Settling in North Vernon was a decision he never regretted.

It was a molding problem caused by a Japanese customer of General Electric that resulted in Snider founding CPX Inc. in 1982. Both G.E. and the Japanese customer were stunned when CPX (Com-Pon- X) was able to create a solution and deliver product in one week. The result was a longterm relationship between G.E. and CPX, which endures to this day.

Today CPX provides a variety of custom components, moldings, wire harnesses and assemblies for manufacturers in the United States and throughout the world.

CPX continues to be based in North Vernon and now has multiple operating plants and employs many people. The company serves as as an embodiment of Snider’s dream to create jobs in the community where people who share his strong work ethic and commitment to quality can prosper.

The Stanley W. Snider Scholarship Fund is dedicated to identifying and fostering the success of those who share his dream. It is Snider’s hope that this gift will encourage others in the Jennings County Community to support higher education of all types so children growing up in Jennings County can look forward to enhanced employment opportunities and a better quality of life.

Snider has served on many boards, including the Indiana Technology Foundation, Jennings County Community Hospital and Muscatatuck Country Club. Under Stan’s leadership while on the board, the former Union Bank and Trust Co. in North Vernon became the most successful bank of its size in the state of Indiana and the fourth most successful bank of its size in the nation.

Snider is a long-standing member of the Masonic Lodge. He and his wife, Gladys, live in North Vernon.

Snider Scholars

All Jennings County residents who have completed high school are eligible for the Stanley W. Snider Scholarship Fund. Students who are awarded scholarships will be known as “Snider Scholars.”

Approximately $50,000 will be available to grant annually to qualified students.

Applications are now available from the Jennings County Community Foundation located at 265 E. Main St., North Vernon, and at the Jennings County High School Guidance office.

For further information, contact the Jennings County Community Foundation at 346-5553.

Charitable Lead Trust: What is it?

Simply put, a Charitable Lead Trust is an instrument whereby an individual may give assets to the Foundation for a designated period of time as a separate trust. The income from the assets would be available for grants for any charitable purposes, such as the Snider Scholars. After this period of time, the property or trust can be returned to you, your estate or heirs.

You pay no income taxes or capital gains taxes during the period that the Foundation manages your assets. In setting up a trust such as this, depending upon your personal financial situation, the tax savings for yourself or your designated heir(s) can be very significant, potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on your individual circumstances.

Please consult your personal tax adviser for specific details on how this may be of benefit to you and your estate.

For more information, contact the Jennings County Community Foundation, 346-5553, or stop by their office located at 265 E. Main St., North Vernon.
 

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