Message from the CALED Chair

Dear CALED Members and Friends,

After spending several years watching CALED grow our membership and introduce new and innovative services, I am honored to accept the position of Chair of the Board of Directors so that I can help keep this momentum moving forward. I thank the CALED Board and our members for this opportunity to give back to the economic development profession and try to make a difference.

At our Board of Directors' Retreat in June, your CALED Leadership identified crucial needs for Economic Developers and our industry in the upcoming years and collaborated on solutions that can meet those needs. Specifically, we outlined the following areas of focus:

What is the State's role in Economic Development? As California's premier statewide economic development association, CALED has been asked to share our view on what a new paradigm for a State role in economic development should look like. We will work with members and economic developers to identify what role the State of California should play in economic development. Once we have addressed this question, we will craft an "economic development strategy" for the State, and will aggressively promote it to our contacts within the administration, our legislators, and our partner/affiliate organizations for support on how to move the vitally needed vision ahead.

Who are the Economic Developers of the future? The face of economic development is changing, and we are working diligently not only to address current changes, but also to predict new trends and develop creative services and methods of delivery to help our members provide the best service they can to their communities and businesses. You can look forward to seeing exciting changes on CALED's web site that tackle this issue.

How do Economic Developers make a difference? This topic is near and dear to me because I believe the reach of Economic Developers goes far beyond helping business and assisting in the creation of quality jobs. We help people, residents, and the community at large by bringing in revenue to help sustain community services we all enjoy and have come to expect.

CALED spends a lot of time working with members helping them find ways to measure their effectiveness and communicate their value to their constituents. We also research tools and trends to identify innovative ways that our members can deliver services to their communities and stay ahead of their competition. In this vain, we will be promoting two very important tools to help you: 1) The Impact Calculator program, which gives you a quick and accurate assessment of the impact on your community of a new project or business development. 2) The Tools for Business Success service, which provides your start-up companies and small businesses with basic and advanced information they need to get their business started and keep it growing.

These are just a few of the ways CALED will continue to support the field and profession of economic development. In addition, we have been your voice at the State level for over 27 years and CALED's commitment to you is that our goal is to make sure you are heard. I encourage you to get involved and stay involved as we move forward in promoting economic development in California and the communities we serve.

Sincerely,

Bruce Ackerman - CALED Chair
President & CEO, Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley