Trust and Faith. (November 2023 Chair's Column)

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to speak to the Dublin Rotary Club about the Hyundai project.  I always enjoy discussing our experiences with Hyundai, its suppliers, and our Savannah JDA relationships.  This presentation was particularly enjoyable – first, because several of my former students from Georgia Southern were in the audience.  And second, because after the speech I met a young man named Stuart from Georgia College and State University who is interested in pursuing economic development.

Stuart asked me a lot of great questions about our profession, including how to find a place to start, what led me to economic development, and what types of skills are best suited for the job. As I thought of responses, I was taken back to different points in my life that brought me to where I am today.  There is no way – at all – that I could’ve predicted this path, and I imagine that many of you feel the same.

I was thinking about Stuart as I returned from a conference recently.  Whenever I’m driving from Atlanta/Athens/Augusta to Statesboro, I usually drive by Clito Baptist Church on US Highway 301.  My mother is buried there, and visiting her grave or just seeing it from the road gives me a great sense of peace.  I close my eyes and remember singing “Jesus Loves Me” at her graveside service and seeing so many of my friends there supporting me and my family.

So, here I am – at one of those confluences of life where past and future meet in a powerful way.  With the end of my time as Chair of this wonderful organization, I reflect on the great experiences I’ve had in my life, and I look ahead to what’s next for me, and who will follow me and my contemporaries in GEDA.  I read a story recently about a young football player talking about the trust he had in his quarterback to throw him the ball in the right location and at the right time out of his break.  Trust is a great thing to have in someone. It’s built on experience – time spent together, to the point where you can count on someone because they’ve come through consistently in the past.  I have a lot of trust in Grant, Trip and our officers, our Board members and Chairs, and the membership of GEDA to carry on the vital and valuable work it provides to our State.

I think of Faith in a slightly different way.  To me, faith is the forward projection of trust – something to believe about the future, perhaps based on the trust brought by experience, but something that hasn’t happened yet.  As I step away from being your Chair, I am full of faith, too – in those folks that come after us, perhaps including Stuart, who somehow will come to this profession by plan or by chance and will continue to do great things for our State and its citizens.

Thanks to all of you for allowing me to be your Chair.  It has been a privilege and an honor.

See you soon.