Boy Scouts of America Announces 2017 National Scout Jamboree Theme

Outside of his career as a financial executive, Brian L. Kasal contributes to a number of nonprofit organizations. As a longtime member of the National Eagle Scout Association, Brian L. Kasal is especially involved in local and national volunteer efforts with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).

The BSA recently announced the theme and logo for the organization’s next National Scout Jamboree, a Scouting celebration that takes places every four years. In 2017, Scouts, Venturers, staff, and volunteers from across the United States will gather at the event, themed “Live Scouting’s Adventure.” The BSA states that the theme epitomizes the adventurous activities and outdoor opportunities that members of the Scouting program experience.

Held at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia’s New River Gorge region, the jamboree allows youth members to engage in diverse and memorable activities such as kayaking, bouldering, and rock climbing. The location also offers zip line courses and mountain bike trails, as well as ranges for shooting sports. In 2013, an estimated 30,000 National Scout Jamboree participants enjoyed the outdoor activities available at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve.

FourStar Wealth Advisors Helps Clients Accumulate Wealth

With more than 30 years of experience in the financial industry, Brian L. Kasal currently serves as the founder and CEO of FourStar Wealth Advisors, LLC. Brian Kasal and his associates at the firm offer a variety of financial planning services, including wealth accumulation offerings.

Among its many strategies to help clients accumulate capital, FourStar Wealth employs multi-asset class exchange-traded funds (ETF) models. These models seek to create a balance between securities, fixed income, and equity to generate long-term, risk-adjusted returns. To preserve principal, multi-asset allocation strategies account for factors such as an investor’s objectives and market expectations.

Using the approach of dynamic allocation among core asset classes, the firm identifies assets based on relative strength among the core asset classes of domestic equities, international equities, fixed income, and cash. The firm also utilizes diversified dynamic allocation to engage in tactical deviations that capitalize on unique investment opportunities. As many investors know, a diverse portfolio can help reduce the risk of high interest rates associated with long-term bonds and minimize the credit threat of high-yield bonds.

Requirements for Earning an Eagle Scout Rank

Founder of FourStar Wealth Advisors, LLC, Brian L. Kasal is also on the Central Region Board of Directors for the Boy Scouts of America. Brian L. Kasal earned the Eagle Scout rank as a young man and has gone on to earn other distinguished awards with the organization, including the Silver Antelope and Order of the Arrow National Distinguished awards.

The Eagle Scout rank is the highest achievement a scout can earn as a member of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Earning the rank represents a young man’s ability to demonstrate exceptional leadership, outdoor skills, and service, while still fulfilling the BSA oath of helping others at all times.

To earn the Eagle Scout rank, a BSA member must complete a project that benefits the greater community. The project can be applied to an educational institution, religious group, or community organization. Each BSA member will develop his own service project that will display his proficiency in leadership and project management. Leading up to the project, the Boy Scout will work on earning merit badges that will advance him through the five ranks necessary for achieving the highest title. In total, a scout must earn 21 merit badges, including the badge for citizenship in the community and camping, to be eligible for the Eagle Scout status.

The Eagle Scout rank is not awarded to all Boy Scout members. Since the organization’s inception in 1912, more than 2.25 million scouts have earned the accolade; Brian Kasal earned the rank in 1974.

The Silver Antelope Award

An experienced business professional and public servant, Brian L. Kasal is also a longtime member of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). He also has served as a volunteer trustee of the National BSA Foundation Advisory Committee and a member of the BSA Central Region Board of Directors. In 2011, the BSA honored Brian Kasal with its prestigious Silver Antelope Award.

Established in 1942, the Silver Antelope Award is a product of the BSA and its National Court of Honor. The Award is bestowed at the regional level to registered scout leaders of “exceptional character who have provided distinguished service.”

Individuals who wish to recommend a local BSA leader for the Silver Antelope Award can complete an online nomination form and submit it electronically to their regional council. After vetting the candidate, regional BSA councils forward the form to the National Court of Honor.

Silver Antelope Awards are presented on a yearly basis in conjunction with the BSA National Annual Meeting each May. In addition to awarding certificates, regions give Silver Antelope Award winners an official medallion suspended from an orange and white ribbon knot, a lapel pin for civilian attire, and a ceremonial knot for the BSA uniform that is worn just above the left pocket.

Earning a Boy Scout Merit Badge

Brian L. Kasal, a graduate of the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business MBA program, currently serves as senior vice president at Morgan Stanley. Away from his professional responsibilities, Brian L. Kasal contributes to a number of charities, including the Boy Scouts of America. Brian Kasal has been involved with the organization for nearly four decades.

Earning different merit badges is one of the primary ways an individual advances through the ranks with the Boy Scouts of America. Badges are currently offered in more than 120 areas of concentration, including topics as diverse as dog care, robotics, wilderness survival, and public speaking. Each badge is overseen at the local level by a merit badge counselor, an older member of the organization who has particular expertise in one or more of the badges. These counselors provide insight and general encouragement to scouts who are preparing to earn a merit badge.

The process of earning a specific merit badge begins with gaining approval from the Scoutmaster. Approval is not overly difficult to come by, but badges such as metalwork or welding are generally reserved for scouts at a higher level. After approving a project, the Scoutmaster will select a badge counselor and the scout will pick out a friend, family member, or fellow scout to attend all future merit badge meetings. The scout and counselor will go over the various requirements necessary to earn the badge and devise a number of projects and events that will help meet these requirements. As the scout accomplishes each of the necessary steps, the counselor will review and approve the scout’s work until all requirements have been met. Finally, the merit badge patch is awarded at a special ceremony or troop meeting.

The Lincoln Central Association’s Oz Park Enhancement Efforts

Based in Chicago, Brian L. Kasal serves as a Senior Vice President with a major financial firm. A longtime volunteer with the Boy Scouts of America, Brian L. Kasal also actively supports the Lincoln Central Association, which is dedicated to enhancing life and preserving the architectural heritage in one of Chicago’s most historic neighborhoods. One of the organization’s lasting contributions has been the maintenance and improvement of the district’s many recreational areas, including 13-acre Oz Park.

Named in honor of writer L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz and a former area resident, the park was established in the late 1960s and encompasses tennis and basketball courts and a baseball field. In addition, fitness enthusiasts enjoy running on the jogging paths that lace the park, and children have access to a large-scale playground. The Emerald City Gardens are set aside as a quiet area of the park.

One of the Lincoln Central Association’s most colorful contributions is a series of statues of characters from the Wizard of Oz. The Tin Man statue was the first; other pieces include the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion, and Dorothy and Toto. The Lincoln Central Association supports the efforts of the Oz Park Advisory Council in ensuring that the park continues to be a functional green space that area residents of all ages can enjoy.

Liquefied Natural Gas Exports by Brian Kasal

There must be tens of thousands of Illinoisans who recognize the enormous economic benefits to be derived from the exportation of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from the United States to the rest of the world. It would be nice if every one of us wrote to U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and encouraged him to speed up his department’s export-permit approval process. That really isn’t necessary, however, because Sen. Mark Kirk has already done so for us.

In a letter co-signed with 33 other U.S. Senators, Kirk thanked Secretary Moniz for his department’s recent approval of a second LNG export permit and urged him to “make decisions on the remaining applications in an expeditious manner.”

Kirk and his colleagues emphasized the environmental and geopolitical benefits of increased gas exports, pointing out that U.S. LNG can “curtail the need for Iranian energy” and ensure secure energy supplies for “longstanding allies and strategic partners.”

Time is of the essence, however. If the permit review process were to be drawn out over a two-year period as presently anticipated, “By then, the private financing and market opportunities making these projects attractive may have dissipated,” Sen. Kirk, et al. warned, “and foreign customers will be forced to turn to other suppliers. . . .”

I’d like to thank Sen. Kirk for writing to Secretary Moniz on our behalf to make sure that he understands, as we do, that LNG exports will create and support thousands of jobs for American workers who are currently unemployed or underemployed – engineering jobs, manufacturing jobs, construction jobs, support services jobs, etc. LNG exports will spur domestic gas production and increase state and federal government revenues, too, reduce our nation’s trade deficit, and improve U.S. energy security.

Kirk should be congratulated for passing on this vital message to Secretary Moniz. He probably wouldn’t mind if we wrote our own letters, too.

Brian Kasal, State Chairman

Illinois Energy Forum