Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine MOMENTUM Holiday 2017 Final | Page 6

2017 Board of Directors Steve Paterson President & CEO League City Regional Chamber Being Thankful! As 2017 winds down for the year, we look back on what a year it has been. The torrential rainfall from Hurricane Harvey and the flooding of homes and businesses to the beginning of construction on I-45 and five corners to the many changes in the local governments of the communities we serve to name a few. Simply put, it has been a year for the books. We are in a world that is rapidly changing and growing! When a window closes another one opens, and change is usually for the better. League City and Galveston County communities can take advantage of the challenges and changes that are facing us by acting in a unified and directed effort. We have problems; however, these are good problems to have. Growth brings its own set of problems as we must address traffic problems, more utilities and services to take care of the growing population. These services all cost money, and somebody must pay. Currently in most of the communities in Galveston County this is the residents who own their homes and support the schools, cities and county through taxes. Currently residents bear most of the weight. However, we are making great strides in economic development to build a business base, which can offset the burden on residents. This is true county wide as each community is working together to take advantage of this “Bay Area Boom” that we are experiencing in healthcare, bio-tech and aerospace as well as upstream petrol-chemical. On December 5th at Moody Gardens, the seventh annual Galveston Economic Development Summit will occur with government officials, developers, venture capitalists, educational institutions, economic development professionals and many others interested in Galveston County and its cities and municipalities as potential headquarters, business campuses for manufacturing and logistical services and research and development enterprises will gather. Topics such as innovation, technology, maritime and other economic opportunities will be discussed and featured to bring attention to and educate the communities on what is happening organically and how to better take advantage of this growth through management of the opportunities presented. We want to bring an awareness to those stakeholders to make sure we extract the full benefit to our communities to provide a sustained quality of life. The passage of the county bond issues this past month and the investment of those monies into the communities of Galveston County is a great start to providing infrastructure and other needs to the cities to keep up with the dynamic growth we are experiencing. Do we have problems? Yes. However, a lot of communities would like to have these problems. So even though it may be frustrating each day we drive around town, we have a lot to be thankful for and watching how our communities will benefit in 2018 and the coming years is an exciting proposition if we can solve these problems together. Steve Paterson Chairman, Ray Soto Soto Financial & Insurance Treasurer, Charlton Cotton Norman Frede Chevrolet Secretary, Jason Long UTMB Past Chairwoman, Jill Kaiser UFCU 2018 Incoming Chairwoman, Rebecca Lilley Memorial Hermann 2019 Incoming Chairman, Bill Provenzano Hometown Bank of League City Laura Dupont CCISD Gloria Greene Elite Care 24 Hour ER Julie Howell Lakewood Yacht Club Matthew Mathias Clear Lake Regional Medical Center Dr. Warren Nichols College of the Mainland Bix Rathburn RPC Consulting Dan Seal BAHEP Becky Trout UTMB Health Teresa Vencil Haute Flowers & Finds Peter Wuenschel CIS - Bay Area John Baumgartner Ex-Officio, City of League City Theresa Rodriquez Ex-Officio, Baytran Lisa Howard Ex-Officio, HOT Tax Board Laura Teatsworth - Peggy Zahler Ex-Officio, HOA Alliance Amanda Fenwick Ex-Officio, Mayor Pro Tem, Clear Lake Shores