This article is being viewed in your Web Browser.
To return to your newsletter, please CLOSE THIS WINDOW. Thank you.

NREDA.org

Letter from the President
By Henry Fischer, NREDA President

MARK GADDY & HENRY FISCHER

As 2009 draws to a close and we celebrate over the holidays, we especially recognize Pat Merritt (Georgia EMC) and Mark Gaddy (Berkeley Electric Cooperative) for their years of service on the NREDA Board of Directors. Pat chaired our Past Presidents Council and Nominating Committee this year while Mark did a yeoman's job organizing our annual golf event, as he has faithfully done for many years. Their commitment to rural development and to NREDA has been simply outstanding!

My year as NREDA President went by quickly, but not without some noteworthy achievements, thanks to the work of our board, committees and staff, who worked hard, oftentimes behind the scenes, to implement our strategic plan:

• Financially, we are in good shape, with the equivalent of one year's operating expenses in reserve;
• Our finance and audit committee completed a thorough review of our books and reports our finances to be in good condition;
• Membership continues to grow, perhaps not as fast as we would like but new member gains continue to offset previous member losses;
• Our annual conference with the theme of "Positioning Rural America for Success" continues to receive high marks with quality speakers, high attendance and strong networking opportunities;
• This year posed a special challenge as we planned two annual conferences concurrently; nearly 100 members, speakers and guests participated in our Destin conference and we look forward to seeing you all in Portland next July;
• Our strategic alliance with NADO has been strengthened during the past year while our relationships with NRECA, CFC, NTCA and NRTC have been enhanced;
• We achieved a record number of annual conference sponsorships this year, raising over $28,000;
• Our Rural Developer quarterly newsletter and website have undergone a makeover, with updates to the members only section and enhanced links while improving newsletter content and recruiting a new newsletter editor;
• Our mid-year member survey, under the leadership of Rick Nelsen and sponsored by Nebraska Public Power District, will help guide NREDA programming in 2010 and beyond;
• Our mid-year professional development seminar in Minnesota, hosted by Great River Energy, drew a record number of attendees as we focused on green building trends and resources;
• We teamed up with several organizations to offer webinars to our members that will enhance our professional development;
• We kept a watchful eye on national legislative issues that affect our members and the communities we service;
• We expanded the scope of our awards committee to include recognizing best practices; we'll hear more about that next year;
• We updated our bylaws and membership dues structure, facilitating online membership and event registration; and
• We began to explore the concept of creating an NREDA Foundation that could support education and training for rural developers.