Wow!  Where did the year go?  It went by fast.  We had a very successful year with a lot of things accomplished and we did it while short-handed.  That tells me we have a great bunch of folks working for us.  Recently we were able to fill two positions and were very fortunate to find some outstanding personnel to hire.  We are really excited to have them as part of our team.

The future looks very good for the Commission.  I don’t think you can tell your employees that you appreciate them enough.  We get so busy and forget to, so, on behalf of the Commission, I would like to give a huge thanks to our staff.

We are working hard on our bold goals.  We are entering our 5th and final county with housing development and I’m personally delighted because it is my County!  This shows our commitment to acting as one region. We’ve worked hard at this, and will continue to do so because it is the only way we can be successful. Standing alone is not an option. While our five counties are very different from each other, each can fill a specialty niche that is important to the entire region. 

The Center for Community Stewardship is off and running.  It is growing faster than we anticipated and we are working with a wide variety of customers.  It should be one of the best things we have done in years.  It will ensure we have trained and educated leaders for years to come.

In closing, I would ask that we continue to work as one and hope we have another very successful year.  It is a privilege to serve and be part of such a wonderful organization.

From the Executive Director - Cliff Tweedale

“What do you want to do when you grow up?” That is a question that all parents ask their children occasionally, and sometimes more than occasionally, as they grow up. The answer to the question points direction, gives a target for their aspirations.

The obvious, but less frequently asked, question is, “How are you going to get there?”
The answer to that question is about strategy and tactics, the nuts and bolts of making progress.  The truth is, strategy is at least as important as a goal.  Goals without strategy are really just dreams.

Over the last several years the HRDC has charted an exciting destiny for itself. This organization wants to be the “go-to” place for those customers that want to create a successful future and are willing to provide leadership to make it happen. We’ve also identified some ambitious goals in the area of leadership and housing (click here to find out what they are and what progress we’re making) that will help us get there.

Now comes the hard part.  As Jim Benson, former President of Bemidji State University says, “There a million ways to run a good idea into the ground.” As we have discovered, there are also a million different things that can get in the way of goals being accomplished.

We’ve had our fair share of challenges over the last year.  For the first time in a long time we’ve had two key staff move on to different, exciting opportunities, we’ve had a housing market slowdown, and other, thankfully smaller, challenges to address. It would have been easy for our staff and Commission members to scale back our ambitions.

But that’s not this organization’s style. The staff have picked up the slack and not complained (not even a little!), our Commission members have supported us with commitments of resources and disciplined action, and our customers have hung with us as we mentor new staff.  Every day I am thankful for the opportunity to work with all three groups.

I have every confidence the HRDC is going to continue to meet its challenges and grow into its opportunities.  I know we’re going to get better, every year, to serve the best customers a regional development organization can have.