Summer Annual Meeting and 50th Anniversary Celebration

The OCCD staff and Board of Directors look forward to welcoming you to OCCD’s Summer Quarterly Meeting and 50^th Anniversary Celebration on July 29 and 30. We will meet at the Crowne Plaza Columbus North, 6500 Doubletree Avenue, in Columbus for a day and a half of networking, informational sessions, and a chance to renew and revive our commitment to our communities. You will leave with a fresh list of ideas and a breath of inspiration.

This is a special Summer Quarterly Meeting where we will celebrate OCCD’s 50^th Anniversary. OCCD was founded in 1965 by 17 Charter communities under the name of the Urban Renewal Association of Ohio. At the Gala on Wednesday evening, we will celebrate OCCD’s accomplishments over the past 50 years and look toward planning for the next 50 years.

As OCCD’s focus covers housing and community and economic development, our program sessions will update us on new housing research and workforce development. We will hear from a panel of federal legislative staff and will learn from an update on HUD Davis-Bacon regulations. We have some terrific speakers who have volunteered their time to share their knowledge and experience with us.

Wednesday morning’s Business Meeting will start with elections for the 2015-2016 OCCD Board of Directors. Nominations will be accepted from the floor, and election results will be announced at the luncheon. We will have a presentation from Ohio Housing Finance Agency’s Holly Holtzen on current housing research. It will be followed by a presentation by two Senior Policy Analysts from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Ms. Lisa Nelson and Mr. Kyle Fee, who will bring us their expertise on workforce development.

The luncheon will feature Columbus’ own Barb Poppe as our keynote speaker. Ms. Poppe served as the Executive Director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness under President Obama and has insights on homelessness and community from a perspective that is both local and national. We are fortunate to have her join us. Several awards will be presented at the luncheon including the President’s Award for Innovative Practices and the Community Development Department of the Year. Individual award winners and OCCD’s scholarship winners will be announced and the winners recognized for their achievements.

After lunch on Wednesday, Ms. Pamela Hanover will present her quarterly update on legislation in the works. Following her update, she will moderate a panel of Washington insiders who will talk to us about what is happening in Washington, D.C., and what we should know in order to effectively work with our legislators. Understanding our legislative process has never been more important to those of us who are dedicated to helping our communities grow and thrive in the challenging and competitive world in which we live.

Join us for the evening banquet which will be a Gala at the Ohio Statehouse and will be unlike anything OCCD has seen in the past 50 years. Buses will begin departing the hotel at 5:00 pm with the last bus leaving at 5:30 pm. There will be a reception from 6:00 pm until 7:00 pm, and the dinner and program will begin at 7:00 pm in the Atrium. State Senator Charleta Tavares will be our Emcee for this evening of honoring our past and looking ahead to our future. Past members and past OCCD presidents will be joining us for the evening including some great friends of this organization. It will be an inspiring evening. Buses will transport all back to the hotel beginning at 8:30 pm. Save some energy for the After-Hours Reception in the Pavilion with Rockin’ Lou Schocken!

Thursday morning will begin with a buffet breakfast (yes, a real buffet breakfast) at 8:30 am and a program at 8:45 am. More information about the presentations will be provided on OCCD’s website in the near future.

Last, yet important and timely, we will have a presentation on Davis-Bacon regulations by Ms. Deborah Diez, the Ohio Labor Relations Specialist, who will join us from HUD’s Region 5 Office in Chicago. Whether you have worked on a related project in the past or not, it is important to understand and know these regulations. They will impact your community.   This is a great opportunity to learn from a HUD expert in an OCCD setting. This will be a three hour session so box lunches will be provided before the program adjourns at 1:00 pm.

Mr. Rollin Seward has fearlessly lead a committee of 36 past and present OCCD members and staff to make this a memorable conference. I encourage you to attend and bring staff from your community that may not have had the chance to attend in the past. I look forward to seeing you on July 29th and 30^th. Happy Anniversary to OCCD!

Sincerely,

Kathy L. Werkmeister, OCCD President-Elect