The new director of the West Virginia First Foundation laid out a broad vision to move forward with the possibilities and responsibilities of the foundation that was established to distribute millions of dollars in opioid litigation money.
“We are in the process of standing up a multi-hundred-million dollar organization from the ether,” Jonathan Board said Thursday afternoon at the first meeting of the foundation since he officially started in the director’s position.
“A lot of incredible work has gone into it thus far; a lot of incredible work is yet to be done.”
Board, a Marion County resident who has been vice president of external affairs at Mon Health, was named to the director’s role on March 14. In response to a question by reporter Caity Coyne at the conclusion of today’s foundation meeting, officials disclosed that Board will be making $230,000 annually.
Matt Harvey, president of the foundation board, said the original advertisement for the director’s position included a range of $230,000 to $300,000. He said the process included comparisons for other executive directors in same sector showed salaries that “were rather high.” In the end, Harvey said, negotiations led to the $230,000 pay rate.
Now, Board said the foundation needs to lay the groundwork for success. In response to questions from board members, he said the foundation will have a $30 million outlay this year for projects meant to aid the state’s recovery from the opioid epidemic.
The state will have about $1 billion following a number of lawsuits against distributors, wholesalers and pharmacies. The money is still coming in. Through the end of last month, according to the foundation, there was $222,344,005 in bank accounts.
The “West Virginia First Memorandum of Understanding” lays out the terms for the state and the many counties and cities that may receive a portion of settlement dollars to push back against ongoing drug addiction issues.
A major portion of the millions of dollars, 72.5 percent, goes to the private, nonstock, nonprofit Opioid Foundation, which will now distribute the funding for work toward abating the opioid epidemic in communities around the state.
Board described a vision for building out a staff to oversee that work, establishing a physical headquarters and gathering for a June 4 in-person workshop for members of the foundation.
A possible organizational chart could include positions like a chief financial officer, a chief marketing officer, a chief administrative officer, project manager and more. He said the organization needs to be capable of carrying out its mission.
“We exist because, sadly, folks suffered and many died. So rather than take this as a blase attitude, we want to bring in the best and the brightest. We absolutely must,” Board said.
“It is incumbent upon us, if we are going to generationally change the state and the way we’re handling this problem that we bring in the very best. It doesn’t mean that we need to be overly heavy on our hiring side, but certainly we need those folks that are top tier operators.”
Asked by MetroNews if there’s an estimate for personnel costs, Harvey said there is not yet.
“The organizational chart is not one that we formally adopted. It’s more of a guide of how foundations are set up and some of the areas of expertise that are needed to run it. I don’t know if all those positions will eventually exist, but they are certainly areas that we need. We may find an employee that can cover two of those positions. So the budget going forward on personnel hasn’t been developed yet.”
Board said the search is underway for a foundation headquarters.
“In this state, like most states, we’ve done a really good job of seating government in one spot. But we are decidedly not government; we’re private. And we’ve sent a strong message to a lot of West Virginians: ‘Come to us.’ I would like to send a message that we’re going to go to you. So that’s sort of leading my thought in how we approach this,” Board said.
Board members agreed to gather June 4 for a workshop.
“It is going to be very important that we do this. There are going to be several elements to the startup and the standup that are going to require that we have a good handle on some of these issues,” Board said.
The foundation also introduced a new board member, Jon Dower, who is replacing Board after his resignation from being a board member to serve as the director.
Dower is the executive director for West Virginia Sober Living and the director of recovery services for Ascension Recovery Services. He also serves on the Governor’s Task Force on Substance Misuse and Prevention as the chair of the Recovery Subcommittee.
“I’m a person in long-term recovery from opioid use disorder, so this kind of board is special to my heart with a little over a dozen years of recovery,” Dower told board members today.
“What’s important to me is that I give back. My life has been one of service, and I feel that being on this board is another service,” he said.