Wednesday, November 8, 2017

ABA Annual Meeting in Harlingen, Tex. Nov. 11

ABA Annual Meeting in Harlingen, Tex. Nov. 11

The American Birding Association will hold its Annual Membership Meeting on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 5:00 pm at the Harlingen Municipal Auditorium, https://maps.google.com/?q=1204+Fair+Park+Blvd,+Harlingen,+TX+78550&entry=gmail&source=g">1204 Fair Park Blvd, Harlingen, TX 78550. The meeting will be followed by a concert in the park in conjunction with the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival's schedule of events.  We hope that many of you will make plans to join us there.

For those who cannot attend, please review and return this year's http://www.aba.org/proxy/ABA-2017-Proxy-Card.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.aba.org/proxy/ABA-2017-Proxy-Card.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1510174583969000&usg=AFQjCNE5VxaH0AaRPrudifYxH6IvLDwmiw">proxy ballot. We'd like to call your attention to the outstanding slate of board candidates there, one which will significantly diversify and strengthen our board. We hope that you will give them your full support.

You'll also find a proposed approval in principle of the merger of the American Birding Association, Inc., a Texas corporation, into and with the American Birding Association, Inc. a Delaware corporation.  At the Annual Meeting of Members in September 2014, the Chair discussed whether, as a consequence of the move of the Association's headquarters to Delaware City, it would be in the best interests of the Association to reincorporate as a Delaware corporation. After a thorough review of the issues, the Board of Directors determined it would be in the best interests of the Association to establish a Delaware corporation and merge the existing Texas corporation into and with the new Delaware corporation.

The primary benefits for such a merger are: (1) incorporating in a jurisdiction whose corporate and regulatory environment best serves the future needs of the Association; (2) reducing the number of regulators overseeing the Association and streamlining regulatory compliance; (3) achieving operating efficiencies of being domiciled in the state of incorporation; and, (4) recognizing the benefits the organization provides to the state of Delaware and the region, making it eligible to receive state and pass through grants to support its operations.