My Last Hurrah!
Hello GEDA members! I trust that you have had a good year, up to now, anyway. It isn’t over yet and there is much left to do in this year of 2021. My term as Chair of GEDA ends at the end of this year. There have been a lot of changes, some interesting times, several challenges, a few tough decisions, occasional opportunities for growth, but mostly it has been a lot of fun! Thank you for your confidence in me to serve as your leader for this year. It has been rewarding and humbling at the same time. Though my term ends as Chair, my involvement will continue as Immediate Past Chair. So, I will stay involved on the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors for this coming year.
As the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, said: “change is the only constant.” We have experienced much change with the advent of COVID-19 and its seemingly endless strains. Of course, we changed our clocks this past November 7th and the Winter Solstice is this coming December 21st, which is marked as our shortest period of daylight of the year. In our work lives it surely seems that the pace of change has increased exponentially. RFPs are due in a day, more detail is required and in digital format and prospects expect more from us, whether it be workforce talent, developed sites and buildings and/or incentives. Yes, life is busy… trust me, I know. My children are involved in lots of activities and are growing up entirely too fast!
My encouragement is for you to take some time this holiday season and give thanks… to our God, our spouse, parents, friends, family, co-workers, colleagues, whomever you value in your lives. We can’t accomplish all that we do on our own. We rely on many others to be the persons we are. Take a few minutes during this season of Christmas, Hanukkah or whatever you celebrate, to be grateful for the people in GEDA, our communities, regions and state for the many blessings we have.
We were happy this past month to be able to present our GEDA Annual Awards in-person. Congratulations to those of you who were the winners or recipients of these accolades! You can see these honorees in this newsletter. I also want to thank all those who weren’t singled out, who submitted their Deal of the Year or Volunteer of the Year. Thank you for your efforts in nominating these “winners” and for your efforts in helping to make them happen!
Lastly, thank you for your membership, your participation and your engagement in GEDA! We couldn’t do it as well as we do without you. If you haven’t done so, consider being on a committee or a mentor. We have a new effort where we are still looking for volunteers as mentors and candidates in the DiverseED initiative. Together we can grow this organization and this profession to be even better than it is today.
Benjy Thompson (2022 GEDA Chair), you’ve got a lot to do next year to outpace what we have accomplished in 2021. Good luck!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Andrea Schruijer
GEDA 2021 Chair