Hello My Rotarian Friends,

 

While the summer warmth fades into an incredible autumn, I hope you all take a moment to enjoy the beauty of the season and its breathtaking sunrises and sunsets.

 

This month's Rotary area of focus is Economic and Community Development, which is near and dear to my heart. Before I moved to Idaho 10 years ago, I was the Director of a Community Development Corporation, where I focused on projects that would support local businesses and make the greatest economic impact for our community. It was a rewarding experience to see how bringing fiber into a business park impacted business development, how beautifying an area brought even more investment, and how providing our small business with resources helped business owners, their families, and beyond! I have been involved in Economic Development from many different perspectives, as a beautification volunteer, a private business owner and community leadership fully focused on economic development. All of these roles taught me many valuable lessons, but the lesson that stands out most prominently is how crucial small businesses are to our local, state, national, and world economy.

 

In the coming months you will hear about an exciting project from our International Committee that you can really get behind. I don't want to steal our International Committee's thunder, so check in with Arthur, Kim or Eugene to discover more about what they are planning that will have a magnificent economic impact! My point being, regardless of who we are, where we come from, and what our station in life is, we are all impacted by Economic and Community Development, which is why Rotary International chose it as an area of focus. For better or for worse we can't avoid the influence of the economy in our lives and just as the sun rises and the sun sets our economy rises and falls. Our club is filled with business owners, business leaders, and local government leaders that have all contributed to a favorable economy. As Idahoans we have enjoyed a pretty healthy economic environment in spite of national economic influencers and our Club members have helped make that possible.

 

Be sure to take some time this month to thank our municipal leaders for their service, shop or eat at our local business to thank them for their business and keep our local economic engine running!

 

Yours in Rotary,

Kristin Sanger

President