Merrimack Education Center Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042620821
IRS 990 coverage
2009–2015
Forms available
Form 990 2015
Location
Chelmsford, MA, USA
Phone
9783222300
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,071,810
Expenses
$12,006,720
Assets
$12,113,047
Liabilities
$4,203,120

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JOSEPH F DIFONZO (EXEC. DIRECTOR): $289,317 total reported compensation
  • SHARON GROVER-RENDA (COMPLIANCE DIRECTOR): $132,552 total reported compensation
  • JAMES GALLAGHER (DIRECTOR OF FACILITIES & TRANSPORTATION): $130,275 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2015. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The merrimack education center (mec) is a diversified educational and technological resource for schools, cities and towns and other non-profit organizations. Mec offers a broad range of professional development, facilities management, transportation services and technology programs and solutions.

What it reported doing in 2015

Continuing professional education programs, including programs offering college credits, to teachers and administrators from local school districts and throughout eastern Massachusetts.mec is in the final development stages for the launch of addition academy preschool. Mec has been developing addition academy over the past year and a half. Addition academy will offer a planned program that supports the guidelines for preschool learning experiences based upon the Massachusetts curriculum frameworks. Through this program, mec will offer a flexible learning environment which promotes positive interactions between children, families and staff, as well as providing a strong foundation for meeting the children's needs for social, emotional, physical, cognitive and intellectual development. Mec has designed the program's curriculum and activities to facilitate active involvement by children in the learning process. Mec currently anticipates that licensure will be granted and the program will begin as early september 2016. Mec anticipates that it will submit its application to the Massachusetts department of early education and care on may 20, 2016, and that the preschool will be fully operational once the application is accepted.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Program spending has declined or grown slowly and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 99.8%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 92.9%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.5%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.01; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.35; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -8.3% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.1% per year; rating input score 0; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -16.6% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 99.8% of revenue deployed · 92.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $11.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $289K · 9 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $411K reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2009 to 2015
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 50/100.