Move over 2020, Here comes 2021!

Happy New Year!

First, I would like to start by saying Congratulations to Chris Pumphrey on his new position as past chair. He has done a tremendous job of leading the organization during a difficult year. Thank you for your leadership and I feel blessed to serve with you on the board.

I’m sure that many of you are glad to say goodbye to 2020 and hello to 2021. While, we still find ourselves in the midst of a pandemic, there is renewed hope and energy in starting new. 2020 has taught has many things: how to Zoom, how to conduct a site visit virtually, how to host a conference virtually and many other skills that will carry over into 2021.

In October, I had the pleasure of meeting with the 2021 GEDA Board of Directors, SIG and Committee Chairs to discuss our plans for this upcoming year. The theme for the meeting was “How do we continue to be the premier economic development association during a pandemic?” We discussed what we do well, what we need to improve and new ideas. We know that we are good at networking, consistent programming, scholarship support and many other items. We know we need to improve on recognizing our members, better training for members, develop our own message as it relates to public policy and program delivery, etc. After much discussion, we came up with 3 things that we want to focus on for 2021:

• Spotlighting our members – This is meant to celebrate the successes of our members, not just for announcements, but new and creative ways to allow for economic development to happen in your community.
• Special Topics – 2020 taught us we have to be proactive in delivering valuable content to our membership. This year we will host six zoom meetings focused on special topics. Jason Dunn, professional development committee chair, has some great ideas!
• Round Tables – When we get back to in person meetings, the networking portion of the meeting will be more structured to allow for subject matter experts to be available to share their knowledge and expertise with our members.

I would encourage our members to get involved in GEDA and share your ideas with the staff, board members and committee/SIG chairs. The organization is better with your ideas and involvement.

So, I will wrap up my first Chair ‘s column with: Goodbye 2020 – You have taught me many new skills, given me lots of ideas, and I will apply these things in 2021, not just for myself, but also for GEDA.