It's Good to Be Back
I don’t know about you, but the GEDA 2021 Annual Conference (AC21) was a long-anticipated and very welcome chance to get together… IN-PERSON! Wasn’t it great? Thank you to all of you that attended, both in-person and virtually in Savannah last month. It was a breath of fresh air to be able to listen, learn and laugh at our meetings, receptions and dinners. Definitely, it is good to be back!
Thank you, Dorie Bacon, GEDA Annual Conference Chair, and all of your committee members (Rachel Barnwell, J.R. Charles, Meghan Duke, Jason Dunn, Mill Graves, Serra Hall, Jessica Hood, Missy Kendrick, Chris Pumphrey and Andrea Taylor) for putting together the “Greatest Show on Earth!” Your theme of Cirque du GEDA – Balancing Act provided a fun experience for our members and your programming struck a balance of essential information and new challenges for us to go back home and continue to improve our efforts to drive Georgia’s prosperity. Thanks also to Georgia Realtors, our Presenting Sponsor, and all of our sponsors for helping to make our AC21 a super meeting!
We continue to get recognized as a leader in the field. Just last week, Governor Kemp, along with Dennis Shea, Publisher of Area Development Magazine, announced that Georgia is the Top State for Doing Business for the EIGHTH year in a row! Across the board, y’all are doing tremendous work in keeping Georgia # 1. Continue your hard work, perseverance and creativity in growing your communities. Remember to put into practice what Will Rogers, an American stage and film actor, vaudeville performer, cowboy, humorist, newspaper columnist, and social commentator from Oklahoma, said “Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.” So, keep it up.
At the Annual Conference, Chris Pumphrey, GEDA Immediate Past Chair, on behalf of GEDA, announced a new program, sponsored by Georgia Power, to increase talent diversity in Economic Development, entitled DiverseED. This program is a statewide effort to improve education, access and opportunity for people of color in economic development. GEDA members are needed as mentors, ambassadors and speakers. Get more information at GEDA.org. William Feather, an American publisher and author, from Cleveland, Ohio said “An idea isn't worth much until a man is found who has the energy and ability to make it work.” Let’s make this work!
Register today for our October monthly luncheon, which features Didi Caldwell, Founder and CEO of Global Location Strategies, from Greenville, SC, who will educate us on developments and trends in the site selection field. Plan to join us on Monday, October 18th at the Georgia Tech Hotel.
Also, this month, Serra Hall, GEDA Chair of the Existing Industry and Workforce Committee, in conjunction with the UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government, will host the fourth of a series of webinars on the Workforce of the Future. Registration is free at GEDA.org. I want to thank Serra and Jason Dunn, GEDA Chair of the Professional Development Committee, for their great efforts on producing quality webinars to educate and inform our members in this new (I’ll say it) post-COVID world!
One more time, I encourage you to get involved in GEDA in one way or another. There are many committees and shared interest groups (SIGs) that are doing good work. Check it out at GEDA.org. There are also event committees and other ways to volunteer. Don’t be like Groucho Marx, who said “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.” But be like Benjamin Franklin, who said “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” So, on that note, get involved and engaged and both you and GEDA will benefit.
And again…it is good to be back!
Andrea