PCDI Elects New Officers in Special Meeting

PCDI Board with Ryan Sneller Next to Ron Cook at Left and Kenia Vazquez Seated Opposite

New PCDI board members, Kenia Vazquez and Ryan Sneller began their duties with Prowers County Development Incorporated during a special meeting held Tuesday, April 14.  They were elected to the board during the annual PCDI banquet and are replacing former members Larry Lusher and Lawrence Brase.  Vazquez was elected to replace Brase as Treasurer while Rick Robbins and Aaron Leiker remained as President and Vice-President respectively.

Stephanie Gonzales, the new Executive Director of SECED, Southeast Colorado Enterprise Development, spoke with the board members about creating an information oriented project she will undertake for both SECED and PCDI.  “I’m going to develop for us, the information brochure that Kari Linker uses as Morgan County economic development director,” she explained.  Several months ago, when Linker was hosting an economics seminar in Lamar, she passed around the four sided brochure which contained pertinent information on her county, listing comprehensive information, names, numbers and organizations that would serve as contacts for any parties interested in developing a business for that county.  County Commissioner, Wendy Buxton-Andrade, noted, “This will help change the perception in some outlying areas that businesses won’t locate to the county because of our small workforce pool.  This marketing tool will help defend the facts against that misconception.”

Gonzales explained, “I’m going to put one together for SECED which will highlight information for the five counties we serve and I can also provide PCDI with a brochure specifically for Prowers County.”  She said she’ll use her graphic design experience to create a sample for consideration and SECED would print the brochures for PCDI.  “We’ll also update any information as it changes, so it will always be current,” she added.  Gonzales said she recently attended a Council of Governments meeting which highlighted a number of different funding sources for potential job and business development and she’d share that information with PCDI in the near future.

The next PCDI business seminar is scheduled for Tuesday, April 21st and is free to current members.  There will be four workplace oriented seminars scheduled with the first focusing on prescription drug abuse followed by sexual harassment, developing an employee’s handbook and concluding with customer service guidelines for managers and employees.

The board went into executive session to discuss developing a different job description when they begin to advertise for a new executive director.  Following the session, the board put together a committee to re-write the current guidelines.  They are County Commissioner Ron Cook, Lamar Community College President John Marrin, County Administrator Jo Dorenkamp and Lamar City Administrator John Sutherland.

by Russ Baldwin