Committees

Kim Rampenthal recently retired as Vice President of Business Development at Solutions Bank. Prior to her time at Solutions Bank, Kim worked for decades in the public and non-profit sector, including 18+ years in higher education.  Some of those higher ed years were in a fundraising/advancement capacity, which has informed and enriched her work with The Foundation for Northwest Illinois.

In addition to being Vice President of the FCF board, Kim is a member of Greater Freeport Partnership’s Women’s Enrichment Network steering team and the Enduring Gift Fund (endowment) committee at her church.

In her free time, Kim and her husband Paul enjoy an active outdoorsy lifestyle (hiking, running, bicycling etc), which usually involves rewarding their efforts with local craft beer.  ?  They enjoy traveling to interesting places, including but not limited to visiting their 4 little grandkids in California and Idaho.

Andrea Schultz Winter is the interim Executive Director for the Greater Freeport Partnership. Andrea works on economic development efforts for the Partnership, including downtown Freeport beautification efforts, data analysis, business support regarding financial incentives and loan programs, and employer workforce development support. Andrea has a wide range of experience–from working on complex architecture and construction projects to urban and regional planning developments.  More recently, Andrea has worked with a local architecture, construction, and development firm where she led local urban planning efforts.  Andrea attended the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where she received her Bachelor of Architecture, Masters of Architecture and Masters of Urban and Regional Planning.

Freeport has been Andrea’s adopted hometown for the past 12 years.  She loves being back in the Midwest and closer to family.  Andrea and her husband have three energetic children and goldendoodle, Dasher.  She values the Freeport community and volunteers her time sitting on multiple non-profit boards and when she does have free time she enjoys biking, hiking, and reading.

Jenny Blocker, CPA, is a Partner and member of Benning Group, LLC. Most of Jenny’s early work experience was obtained working for local banks in teller, bookkeeping, and back room operations. She also worked for a small manufacturing company for two years while attending Rockford College, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. She began her professional career with Newell Rubbermaid’s corporate accounting department in Freeport in 1999. While at Newell, Jenny specialized in acquisition integration, working closely with newly acquired companies to assimilate financial reporting, policies, and software within the existing Newell framework. She was also a liaison between the corporate tax, legal, treasury, and accounting departments, preparing accounting documents for the internal restructuring of the company’s domestic and international divisions. Jenny also assisted in the day-to-day operations of the corporate accounting department by supervising staff accountants, reviewing divisional financial statements, and overseeing the consolidation of the company-wide month end financials. In 2004, Jenny joined Benning Group, LLC. Jenny supervises many of the firm’s audits, specializing in non-profit organizations and financial institutions. In addition to audits, she provides QuickBooks consulting services to the firm’s clients. Jenny also provides tax preparation and planning services to a wide variety of entities, including individuals, small businesses, financial institutions, and non-profit organizations.

Brad has been involved in the financial services industry since 2013. Before transitioning to his current role, he was an investment research analyst for Savant, where he was responsible for creating investment analysis reports used by the financial advisors to develop planning and investment strategies, supporting research and due diligence of funds and fund managers for potential inclusion in Savant investment strategies, and generating reports for financial advisors including model portfolio, fund performance, and client benchmarking reports. He also served as a portfolio accountant for Savant.

Brad earned a bachelor of science degree in finance from Northern Illinois University and is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. He grew up in Freeport as a middle child with two sisters. Brad enjoys golfing, anything outdoors, and spending free time with his family in Freeport. Since returning to Freeport he has enjoyed volunteering on the board of directors for two local charities and giving back to the community that raised him.