Greetings! We’ve got a short update this week due to the upcoming Christmas Holiday.
Here’s our update for the week –
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Suzan’s week:
* Daily/ weekly routine tasks
* Proofread newsletter & report
* Submit timecard
* Yearend record shifting process
* QBO issues
* Delete more old ED emails
* Pay bills
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Paul’s week:
Newsletter – We sent out the first of our “new era” newsletters yesterday via MailChimp – I hope you’ve all had a chance to check out the new look and feel. It went out to our current members, but also to a number of municipal stakeholders in the county (thanks to a nudge from Curt!) and other interested parties. We’ll be growing our MailChimp mailing list in the new year from our existing database and other sources – and we also had a few website newsletter sign-ups yesterday and today.
Here is a portion of a nice note I received from Dave Price over at the SBDC:
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That’s a great newsletter.
Compared to past EDALC efforts, the change in presentation and look/feel… it’s profound.
Wow. Congratulations.
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Digital Marketing Test – Just a quick update on the campaign – as of this afternoon, we’ve had just over 3,500 impressions with just over 70 clickthroughs to the landing page.
Community and Economic Development Grant – Lesley and I presented the Board’s recommendations to the County Commissioners during Monday afternoon’s meeting. We had a nice, lively discussion and there seemed to be support (from at least two commissioners) to perhaps entertain the idea of a larger economic development grant as part of the program. Lesley and I were also able to provide some modest cheerleading on the new face of the EDALC and our desire to do good, collaborative work moving forward.
QuickBooks – I was able to work through the input processing of split transactions coming in from the bank (CC and Gusto payroll) and had Misty from Bryan’s office check my work (looks like I get a gold star!) – Misty also provided some instruction so that Suzan can take on this process moving forward.
Legacy Accounts – Suzan and I discussed the old email accounts. I’ll help her set up an autoresponder on her old staff account for January. I’ll take over the old ED account and manually shoot out email updates (I won’t do an autoresponder since there is so much junk and not needed email flowing into that account from over the years). Then we’ll be able to cancel our Peak hosting accounts.
Looking Forward to Reading – Doug Holbrook stopped by the home office today with a copy of “Put Your Money Where Your Life Is” – a book by Michael H. Shuman on how to use self-directed IRAs and Solo 401(k)s to invest money in your local community – looking very forward to reading this book!
Business Expansion – Representative Gomberg referred a business to us (with high recommendations!) that is looking to expand nationally and create some much-needed jobs to locally displaced restaurant and food service workers. They already have a pair of out-of-state investors at the ready to help with the expansion. I had a long call today with the business owner and will be doing some research and circling back after the Christmas holiday.
Professional Development – I always like to spend the last two weeks in the year evaluating my tool usage (both digital and luddite) and the best ways to manage tasks, projects and research for the coming year. Suzan and I will also each be developing a professional development plan for 2021 to make sure our skills and knowledge are ready for the challenges ahead.
TLT Payment from Lincoln County – I wanted to report to the board that we received a TLT payment from Lincoln County for $51,616.95. The transaction record from the treasurer’s office is a little cryptic on dates, but looking back at our records, it looks like it’s the 4th quarter TLT payment from 2019-20 (and looking at past transaction records, the dates are a little cryptic there as well – it must be when funds fully arrive and can be disbursed by the county). The bottom line is that this is great news as we work with the county to develop an equitable sustainable funding and service model into 2021 and beyond.
I hope you all will have a wonderful Christmas Holiday – we’ll be staying put for COVID reasons (Susan’s family in Illinois has been hit with quite few COVID cases), but doing a Zoom Christmas with Susan’s Mom. We got a rib roast from Coastal Cutters and will be doing fondue on Christmas Eve and Prime Rib on Christmas Day. I’ve attached our holiday card with warmest wishes from Susan and I (and Stella) to you all, and a pox on 2020 – good riddance!
Thanks for all that you are doing out there! Please reach out to me if you need anything at all. Merry Christmas!
Cheers,
-Paul 🙂