Community Foundation of St. Clair County

Community Foundation of St. Clair County

Founded in 1944, the Community Foundation of St. Clair County operates as a permanent philanthropic endowment for Michigan’s Blue Water Region. President and CEO Randy Maiers guides the foundation, which channels unclaimed donor-directed capital into community development while administering a collection of agency-endowed funds. Its asset base includes direct holdings in local real estate and natural land. The foundation blends traditional endowment management with direct real-world asset ownership. It holds the Knowlton Museum building at 317 Grand River Avenue, the Studio 1219 facility on Military Street, and its own 500 Water Street headquarters, all serving as commercial anchors in Port Huron. The Blue Water Land Fund preserves permanent greenspace, including Bidwell Sanctuary in Burtchville Township and the Blue Water River Walk along the St. Clair River. A cryptocurrency donation portfolio diversifies the revenue base, and the foundation participates in the Community Capital Club, an angel investor network funding for-profit ventures in the Blue Water Region. Total deployable assets reach an Altss-estimated $87M across these categories, though the foundation does not publicly break out a single AUM figure. The board draws from local civic leadership: 2025–2026 Chair Will Oldford follows immediate past chair Patti Manley. Major donors shape the grantmaking profile — James C. Acheson created a parallel charitable foundation routed through this entity. The foundation participates in the statewide Council of Michigan Foundations and the Blue Meets Green economic development coalition. No recent operational event from the last 24 months is verifiable from available records. Its structural differentiator is the direct asset book. Most community foundations disburse from a purely financial pool; this entity derives grantmaking power and civic leverage from owning the buildings, the riverfront parkland, and the cultural collections that define its downtown geography. That real-asset posture makes it an anchor institution in a way few community foundations achieve.