Executive Director’s Note:

Community Building. Deb Smith, Krista Baker, and I attended the Northwest Inland Partners meeting on August 9 in Spokane Valley. The speaker was Doug Griffiths, author of 13 Ways to Kill Your Community.

Doug is a hot commodity in the community and economic development arena. A captivating and talented speaker, he preaches the right way to build your community by explaining the wrong ways, like Grow Complacent, Live in the Past, Reject Everything New, Forget the Water, Shop Elsewhere. He has words of experience and wisdom applicable to any community. His afternoon focus was “Collaboration, Cooperation, and the Future of Communities.” In my mind he really nailed the realities we are all facing in a dynamic and changing world, from technology to workforce to environment to business.

What resonated with me was his message to manage and control our futures, don’t let outside forces divide us but find partners to work with us. That is the mission of CEDA. This organization was formed to gather the diverse local interests in our region, harness partnerships, and secure the necessary resources to build our communities. We hope to get Doug back here so more folks can engage with him.

You will notice that CEDA is growing. We are adding staff and we have new programs to implement. We have a budget set for FY24. As the Executive Director, I am proud of our organization and staff and look forward to what we can accomplish next year and beyond.