Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
iHeartMedia Presents CEOs you should know. I am John Dinkle,
founder and CEO of DNKLE Business Development and former president
and publisher of the Baltimore Business Journal. Is Iheartradios CEOs
you should know? And I'm here today with Sean mcganni's
president and CEO of the Columbia Association. Welcome Shawn, and
thanks for being here.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
All right, John, thanks for having me. I'm happy to
be here.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Yeah, yeah, looking forward to our conversations. I appreciate you
taking the time out. I thought we'd begin by getting
to tell you a little bit and a little bit
more about Columbia Association. So for those who are familiar,
could he tell us about Columbia Association.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Sure, we're happy to yes, CA, as we refer to
it as a nonprofit community services organization and we're really
just committed to enhancing the quality of life in Columbia, Maryland.
You may or may not know that Columbia is the
second largest community in Maryland outside of Baltimore City, and
we have a population of about one hundred and eight
(00:59):
thousand and that is encompassed in ten villages. And I
think it's this village community set up that James Arouse started.
That really makes it feel more like a small town
where it's actually a you know, really decent sized city.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And what's your mission.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Our mission is to provide a wide array of spaces
and services and programs to support, you know, our incredibly
diverse community. You know, we are founded on diversity, equity
and inclusion, so that's important and it's important for us
to reflect that in the facilities. We have a number
of gyms, golf courses, tennis facilities, but also open space.
(01:41):
We have three thirty six hundred acres of open space,
ninety five miles of trails and paths, and three lakes.
So it's really to emphasize quality of life and provide
programming and services around that. And we've been very successful
over the last fifty years doing that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Absolutely, Yeah, and actually talk a little bit more about
the kind of programming and services they are because it's
a lot of stuff and you probably get talked all
about it, but what are give us some highlights with
some of the programming, servicing offerings.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Sure, so, just under wellness, you know, fitness and recreation.
We receive more than two million visits per year and
that those visits are in our three fitness clubs, five
tennis and pickleball facility, twenty three outdoor pools, five indoor pools,
two golf courses at ice Rink, sports and skates park.
But you know, we also have arts and culture. We
(02:34):
have a Columbia Arts Center, and we do a lot
of multicultural programming out of hat. We do a lot
of youth and teen programming. We have a youth and
teen center, We have before and after school care, so
a number of things. And then you know, you heard
me talk about our environmental stewardship, and that's you know,
ninety five miles of accessible pathways, three hundred bridges, three lakes,
(02:54):
so and then you know, we've been nationally recognized for
our sustainability of this efforts in that regard. So that
is a lot that we try to do every day.
And on top of that we do we do a
number We do a lot of community events and programming
from concerts to outdoor movies to cultural events. So we
are busy doing a lot for the community and we
have a lot of engagement around that. So that's you know,
(03:17):
kind of what we offer just on a daily basis.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Got and you are conca is considered a nonprofit organization, right, correct?
And so how are you guys funded? Is that through
I imagine obviously through memberships? Do you get government funding?
Is it through corporate donors and individual giving? Like talk
a little bit about your funding model.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah, I'd love to. So you know, this year we'll
have an annual budget of about ninety million dollars and
we receive one hundred percent of our funding from both
what we do, so people that are on assessed properties
here in Colombia as part of our ten villages, receive
what's called an annual charge. That annual charge is based
(04:01):
on the Howard County property assessment value. So there's the
annual charge for both residents and commercial businesses. And then
also we have a large part of our revenue, about
forty percent, is for membership fees around our clubs and
facilities in PROGRAMMINGTA.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Gotcha, thank you, I appreciate that. And how can the
how's the business community involve it or and how can
they become involved with the With the COMB Association.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
We try to engage the business community through a lot
of outreach in programming. They're automatically involved with us because
you know, by virtue of their annual charge. And you know,
economic development plays an important role here in Columbia. That's
why we partner with organizations like the Howard County Chamber
of Commerce because we want to support and collaborate with
(04:51):
the business community as well. So you know, some companies
already work with us, like I said, through those wellness efforts,
but we're always looking to outreach more or to reach
with the business community because they're just you know, they're
they're an important part of kind of what makes Columbia
great as well. We have a large commercial base.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Absolutely, yeah. And because of the standard of living and
the diversity in Columbia and you know the villages that
you talked about, that kind of large uh amenities, but
small town feel in a sense is attractive to you
know workers. You know, over the it seems that that's
(05:28):
the Columbia downtown has really started to thrive over the
past by six seven years, that brought in more larger
companies I imagine. Yeah, that relationship between you all and
the business community is going to continue to grow, it seems.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yes, yes, so we certainly want to support that. And
you know, like I said, that's one of the things
that makes Columbia. Columbia UH is our down our downtown district,
in our lakefront which is also downtown, so we try
to capitalize on both of those.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Yeah, that's great. So as the you know, fairly new CEO,
the coupe says, what are some primary objectives you have
for the for the new year.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Well, first off, we're trying to finalize our five year
strategic plan. The Board of Directors is tasked with creating
a five year plan strategic plan. So they've you know,
we've had some transition in this position and with the board,
so they've elected to kind of just push that off.
So we're just about to finalize that. And you know,
(06:27):
along those lines, one of our initiatives and revolves around
enhancing awareness of c A in the community. You know,
one of the interesting challenges that Columbia Association has is
that we do so much and we're so diverse, and
making sure that people are aware of what we do
and how they can take advantage of that programming is
(06:50):
actually a challenge. So, you know, as we have grown,
you know, there's a lot of new residents in the community.
We have a lot of UH you know, with a
lot of single family homes, department complexes, town homes, so
each of those has different ways of being reached and
communicated with, So we want to make sure that we're
(07:10):
reaching as many people as possible to let them know
what they have access to. Yeah, and you know, part
of our mission is you know, diversity, equity, inclusion, wellness,
you know, equity, affordability, and accessibility. So these are things
that are core to what we do. So it's important
for us to kind of evaluate the programming we're providing
(07:31):
in that regard and making sure that we're making it
accessible to everybody. So that's been important. That's a big
push of ours for this coming year as well.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
That's excellent. Appreciate sharing that and that. Where do you
think you could make the most int act in the
kind of least amount of time. Is there any kind
of low hanging fruit that you're like, oh, man, you know,
if we just did this, this would you know, serve
so many other people, or we could you know, improve
this and would make such an impact on the residence.
Is there anything like that or is it just it's
pretty complex and they you have a lot going on
(08:01):
in a big budget there.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
It is, It's it's not as easy as you as
you would think, you know, but you know, there's a
lot that we can do around signage and branding in
the community, which we're working on, you know, trying to
be you know, we've we've been subtle about our approach,
but I think we want more people to be aware.
And like I said in this communicating with the public
(08:26):
in this day and age is a lot more difficult
than that. There's just so many means of communication and
everyone has a different means of communication, So how do
we get the most outreach? So we're constantly working on that.
And you know, there's demographic groups that we know historically
have been difficult to reach for everybody, and that's kind
of we it's not one group, but we kind of
lump it into fifty five, like that's that's a group
(08:48):
that you know, I think historically can be difficult. I mean,
they're not one group, but they're different. But you know,
how can we outreach to them to let them know
what they have access to here? So that's really and
how do we do that? So those are some of
the easy things. And like I said, people more transient
that are live in an apartment complexes that you know
coming in from the outside to work, you know, in
(09:08):
the Baltimore d C, Columbia Horward County area, and you know,
they may just think they're moving to Columbia. It's just
the city, and I don't know. But then they don't
understand what Columbia Association does and we want them to
be able to take advantage of that. So those are
kind of the sort of low hanging things.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Okay, I love it, thank you so. So switching gears
a little bit. Tell us a little bit about your background.
What brought you here. You're coming from Massachusetts, I understand,
so yeah, tell us little bit about your background and
you know how how your your past got you here?
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Oh sure, so you know, I'll go way back. So
I'm from Massachusetts, but my first I'm a civil engineer
by training, and my first job out of college was
in Baltimore at the State Highway Administration. Well yeah, and
it gets even better. Part of the program they had
for new engineers at the time, and I think they
still have it as you have to do these rotations
(10:03):
in different aspects of SAHA, and one of my rotations
was here in Columbia on a bridge construction project, and
I think it was RU thirty two, So that was
my first exposure to Columbia and I remember, you know,
it's a planned community and there's not a lot of signage,
and I remember at the time I could not find anything,
and I came to appreciate it the longer I was here.
(10:25):
But you know, when I went back to Massachusetts, and
I've spent you know, the last you know, twenty years
of municipal government and that encompasses a lot of management,
community planning, community development, a number of things. But I
always whenever I was involved in a planning project, I
always referred back to Colombia as a great well planned community.
And you know, when you're working in kind of the
(10:47):
Northeast where they're more established, older communities that you know,
they can never achieve what Columbia has, but they can
only aspire to it. So and so, you know, because
I've been working in municipal government on a manager level
for a number of years and then this position came up,
but I'd always remembered Columbia, and uh, you know, it
was a great interest to me.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
So here I am awesome, Well welcome, I appreciate you
collaborating on that. Yeah, I like talking about leadership on
the show, How would you describe your leadership style?
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Great question, I get that a lot. And uh, you know, historically,
I'm all about collaboration, communication, transparency, you know, you know,
and I like to recognize staff for you know, their
hard work, and I'm all about teamwork. So you know
those I say this a lot. I joke they sound
like buzzwords. They're really not. I said, well, you know,
(11:42):
when people work with me, I think they see like
that is really how I operate. I like to get
input from everybody. I like to leverage the skill set
of staff. You know, a lot of time staff are
in a position or in a department, but they have
a diverse skill set. So I like to create teams
to kind of leverage that and get the staff and
because they really contribute. So you know that, and you're
(12:04):
coming from the government side of things, I try to
be really transparent with what we do, how we do
it in trying to let the public know what's going
on as best we can.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Yeah, that's great. Yeah, A couple of things what you
said kind of stick out to me is, you know,
getting people working collaboratively and understanding what their strengths are,
putting them in teams so that they can work, you know,
off of each other. And I think that takes a
special skill set and also takes you knowing them really well,
which means you're fucking to them, You're conversion with them,
(12:37):
You're getting to know them as you know, as not
just employees and staff members, but people and what's going
to motivate them and you know they want to be
a part of that team and collaborate. So I love
that aspect. And the second thing was the transparency part.
I think I think it's more prevalent today than it
was probably even ten to fifteen years ago. But I
(13:00):
was a big firm believer when I was running the
DBJ about transparency and putting all the numbers up on
the board and just letting the team know where we
are and where we need to go, and you know, good,
bad or ugly. You know. I just I just think
that's an important aspect. I appreciate you. Appreciate you bringing
that up.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
No, I agree. I mean, and you know, as an engineer,
I'm a process guy, so you know, I really like,
you know, whenever we do anything, I like to have
a you know, a real a process in place for
us to kind of talk about, to collaborate on, and
then to enact and then you know, when things don't
go well, it's always good to look back and say, well,
here's the process we took to get there was well
(13:36):
thought out and well conceived, and you know what this
maybe this didn't go right or this or this did,
but you know, just so we know why. And that
goes back to transparency to show people like, yeah, here's
our decision making process. This is how we go about
what we're going to you know, deciding what we're going
to do. And that's important for people to see too.
So you know, like I said, not everything is always
one hundred percent successful, but I think people appreciate the
(13:58):
fact that they know what went into kind of the
planning and operations around a lot of these projects.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Yeah, and you mentioned some earlier about like you know,
being your background and uh be analytical metric driven, you
know things like that. I'm and I'm a firm believer
in that too, because that's the only way you can,
you know, learn from your mistake. You got to measure it,
understand it, and then look back on it and see,
(14:23):
you know, all right, what worked, what didn't what do
we need to adjust, what do we need to add
or subtract? So yeah, that's I think the there's not
enough of that going around. I think in leadership enough
of that really looking at the metrics of things, and
especially where I stand and working with folks now, intentions
there and you know a lot of good businesses are
(14:46):
run very profitably without it. But you know, if you
do have a good metric driven system in there, and
in a lot of the systems that you have in
your business, it can just go you know, much further,
and go.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Go further exactly. And you know, it's important not only
for you know, us, you know, CA is a nonprofit,
for the members of our community to see what we're doing,
but also for staff, you know, when we're planning to
do things and our approach, you know, the staff need
to buy in as well, and they need to understand
kind of you know, the data that we collect in
the importance of that and really get in in that
(15:20):
mindset themselves. So when they're out there working, you know,
in their specific position or their department, then in the
back of their mind and thinking, aria, how can I
measure this so that we can look at it in
a year and wonder, you know, and see if it's
successful or not. So it's really changing that mindset as well,
which is important too. So then they know, like you know,
how they're making their decisions on a day to day
(15:42):
basis reflects on the organization as a whole.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Exactly. Yeah, that's great. I appreciate you sharing that, man.
So so we'll get you excited about the future of
Columbia Association.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
I think you know, like I said, you know, Columbia
Association does so many things. We're trying to outreach in
the community. So you know, one thing I'm excited about.
You know, what a challenge is and I think I've
talked about this is you know, technology can make people
more disconnected and surprisingly so, as much as they feel
connected through technology, you know, physically they're disconnected. And CIA's
(16:18):
mission is really to engage our diverse community and bring
them together through you know, like I said, our facilities,
our programs, our services. You know, it's it's important for
those community members to connect and it's exciting that you know,
CIA is in a position that makes that happen in
the healthy way. So that is what I'm excited about.
And today kind of enact that and make that happen,
(16:38):
because I think we see, you know, on a daily basis,
it's you know, really you know, people kind of living
busy lives but not taking time to really be part
of the community and take advantage of what it has
to offer.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Yeah, I agree, that's great. And so conversely, what what
keeps you up.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
At you know, you know, funding is a big part
of that. Economic uncertainty is a significant concern for our future.
So you know, you know, revenues are you know, dependent
on memberships, business and property values, so you know, any
fluctuation in those can have a significant impact on our
budget and what we do. So you know that keeps
(17:14):
me concerned. You know, we also, you know, in economic
uncertainty can also you know, makes us focus on balancing
affordability and accessibility in our facilities and programs and services.
So we want to make sure that you know, we're
providing the best we can with within budget constraints and
labor challenges. You know, we have a lot of staff here,
(17:35):
we have our thirteen hundred employees, so that labor market's
been tight since COVID, so it's really finding quality people
has been difficult. We've been very fortunate. You know, we
have an amazing staff here from top to bottom, but
maintaining that can be difficult in this climate. And then
you know, the other challenge I talked about is communication.
(17:57):
You know, we have a robust and intelligent communication and
marketing teams, but you know, it's really difficult in this
day and age to make sure you're reaching everybody. So
we you know, we really make a concerted effort in
that regard, and that is like I would tell you
what's on a daily basis, it's on an hourly basis.
We're constantly trying to communicate better. So we have great
staff doing that.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Well, you're not alone there. I think that's one of
the biggest, uh, you know, kind of obstacles for many
organizations and communications, but especially ones that have you know,
thirteen hundred employees or more. So appreciate you sharing that.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Well, yeah, I joke, you know, gone through the days
of the one newspaper where everyone get their news and
then when when people complain or you know, bring up hey,
I sure that, and I'm like, well, and I used
to joke and I still do. Short of hiring a
town crier to walk the streets just like yelling what
we have going on. I mean, I don't know how
(18:50):
much more we can do, but we're always making more
of an effort.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah, I mean you have to. And like you said earlier,
it's so fragmented now. I mean, you know it's it's
social media. Is that you know through email? That through signage,
is it through word of mouth? I mean that it's
so fractured nowadays that yeah, it's yeah, and you almost
have to be in almost every one of those mediums
because everybody's a little bit different, so they are. Yeah, yeah,
(19:15):
that's pretty crazy. Well to God. To wrap things up,
Is there anything else you'd like our listeners to know
about you and the Columbia Association.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
We'd love to have people come to Columbia either move
here or they're welcome to get memberships and use our facilities.
But also we do a great amount of programming around
our lakefronts, but also within the ten villages so that
the public can take advantage of the publican and take
advantage of our ninety five miles A pathways. So you know,
we would love people to be more exposed to Columbia
(19:46):
and what we have to offer in CAA in particular,
so you know, we'd love to have people visit. That'd
be great.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Awesome, and how what's the best way to find more
information about Columbia Association.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
You can go to our website Columbia Associate dot org,
or you can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Just
search Columbia Association and look for our green and blue
bloom awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Well, well, thank you so much. I really appreciate you
to spend the time with me this morning. It's good
to meet you. Welcome to the region. If there's anything
I can do to help you get more acclimated, please
let me know. I love doing that. So I appreciate
your time and help you have a great rest of
the week.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
My pleasure. Thanks for having me John, and have a
good rest of the week as well.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
This has been iheartmedias CEOs you should know
iHeartMedia Presents CEOs you should know. I am John Dinkle,
founder and CEO of DNKLE Business Development and former president
and publisher of the Baltimore Business Journal. Is Iheartradios CEOs
you should know? And I'm here today with Sean mcganni's
president and CEO of the Columbia Association. Welcome Shawn, and
thanks for being here.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
All right, John, thanks for having me. I'm happy to
be here.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Yeah, yeah, looking forward to our conversations. I appreciate you
taking the time out. I thought we'd begin by getting
to tell you a little bit and a little bit
more about Columbia Association. So for those who are familiar,
could he tell us about Columbia Association.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Sure, we're happy to yes, CA, as we refer to
it as a nonprofit community services organization and we're really
just committed to enhancing the quality of life in Columbia, Maryland.
You may or may not know that Columbia is the
second largest community in Maryland outside of Baltimore City, and
we have a population of about one hundred and eight
(00:59):
thousand and that is encompassed in ten villages. And I
think it's this village community set up that James Arouse started.
That really makes it feel more like a small town
where it's actually a you know, really decent sized city.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
And what's your mission.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Our mission is to provide a wide array of spaces
and services and programs to support, you know, our incredibly
diverse community. You know, we are founded on diversity, equity
and inclusion, so that's important and it's important for us
to reflect that in the facilities. We have a number
of gyms, golf courses, tennis facilities, but also open space.
(01:41):
We have three thirty six hundred acres of open space,
ninety five miles of trails and paths, and three lakes.
So it's really to emphasize quality of life and provide
programming and services around that. And we've been very successful
over the last fifty years doing that. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Absolutely, Yeah, and actually talk a little bit more about
the kind of programming and services they are because it's
a lot of stuff and you probably get talked all
about it, but what are give us some highlights with
some of the programming, servicing offerings.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Sure, so, just under wellness, you know, fitness and recreation.
We receive more than two million visits per year and
that those visits are in our three fitness clubs, five
tennis and pickleball facility, twenty three outdoor pools, five indoor pools,
two golf courses at ice Rink, sports and skates park.
But you know, we also have arts and culture. We
(02:34):
have a Columbia Arts Center, and we do a lot
of multicultural programming out of hat. We do a lot
of youth and teen programming. We have a youth and
teen center, We have before and after school care, so
a number of things. And then you know, you heard
me talk about our environmental stewardship, and that's you know,
ninety five miles of accessible pathways, three hundred bridges, three lakes,
(02:54):
so and then you know, we've been nationally recognized for
our sustainability of this efforts in that regard. So that
is a lot that we try to do every day.
And on top of that we do we do a
number We do a lot of community events and programming
from concerts to outdoor movies to cultural events. So we
are busy doing a lot for the community and we
have a lot of engagement around that. So that's you know,
(03:17):
kind of what we offer just on a daily basis.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Got and you are conca is considered a nonprofit organization, right, correct?
And so how are you guys funded? Is that through
I imagine obviously through memberships? Do you get government funding?
Is it through corporate donors and individual giving? Like talk
a little bit about your funding model.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah, I'd love to. So you know, this year we'll
have an annual budget of about ninety million dollars and
we receive one hundred percent of our funding from both
what we do, so people that are on assessed properties
here in Colombia as part of our ten villages, receive
what's called an annual charge. That annual charge is based
(04:01):
on the Howard County property assessment value. So there's the
annual charge for both residents and commercial businesses. And then
also we have a large part of our revenue, about
forty percent, is for membership fees around our clubs and
facilities in PROGRAMMINGTA.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Gotcha, thank you, I appreciate that. And how can the
how's the business community involve it or and how can
they become involved with the With the COMB Association.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
We try to engage the business community through a lot
of outreach in programming. They're automatically involved with us because
you know, by virtue of their annual charge. And you know,
economic development plays an important role here in Columbia. That's
why we partner with organizations like the Howard County Chamber
of Commerce because we want to support and collaborate with
(04:51):
the business community as well. So you know, some companies
already work with us, like I said, through those wellness efforts,
but we're always looking to outreach more or to reach
with the business community because they're just you know, they're
they're an important part of kind of what makes Columbia
great as well. We have a large commercial base.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Absolutely, yeah. And because of the standard of living and
the diversity in Columbia and you know the villages that
you talked about, that kind of large uh amenities, but
small town feel in a sense is attractive to you
know workers. You know, over the it seems that that's
(05:28):
the Columbia downtown has really started to thrive over the
past by six seven years, that brought in more larger
companies I imagine. Yeah, that relationship between you all and
the business community is going to continue to grow, it seems.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yes, yes, so we certainly want to support that. And
you know, like I said, that's one of the things
that makes Columbia. Columbia UH is our down our downtown district,
in our lakefront which is also downtown, so we try
to capitalize on both of those.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Yeah, that's great. So as the you know, fairly new CEO,
the coupe says, what are some primary objectives you have
for the for the new year.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Well, first off, we're trying to finalize our five year
strategic plan. The Board of Directors is tasked with creating
a five year plan strategic plan. So they've you know,
we've had some transition in this position and with the board,
so they've elected to kind of just push that off.
So we're just about to finalize that. And you know,
(06:27):
along those lines, one of our initiatives and revolves around
enhancing awareness of c A in the community. You know,
one of the interesting challenges that Columbia Association has is
that we do so much and we're so diverse, and
making sure that people are aware of what we do
and how they can take advantage of that programming is
(06:50):
actually a challenge. So, you know, as we have grown,
you know, there's a lot of new residents in the community.
We have a lot of UH you know, with a
lot of single family homes, department complexes, town homes, so
each of those has different ways of being reached and
communicated with, So we want to make sure that we're
(07:10):
reaching as many people as possible to let them know
what they have access to. Yeah, and you know, part
of our mission is you know, diversity, equity, inclusion, wellness,
you know, equity, affordability, and accessibility. So these are things
that are core to what we do. So it's important
for us to kind of evaluate the programming we're providing
(07:31):
in that regard and making sure that we're making it
accessible to everybody. So that's been important. That's a big
push of ours for this coming year as well.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
That's excellent. Appreciate sharing that and that. Where do you
think you could make the most int act in the
kind of least amount of time. Is there any kind
of low hanging fruit that you're like, oh, man, you know,
if we just did this, this would you know, serve
so many other people, or we could you know, improve
this and would make such an impact on the residence.
Is there anything like that or is it just it's
pretty complex and they you have a lot going on
(08:01):
in a big budget there.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
It is, It's it's not as easy as you as
you would think, you know, but you know, there's a
lot that we can do around signage and branding in
the community, which we're working on, you know, trying to
be you know, we've we've been subtle about our approach,
but I think we want more people to be aware.
And like I said in this communicating with the public
(08:26):
in this day and age is a lot more difficult
than that. There's just so many means of communication and
everyone has a different means of communication, So how do
we get the most outreach? So we're constantly working on that.
And you know, there's demographic groups that we know historically
have been difficult to reach for everybody, and that's kind
of we it's not one group, but we kind of
lump it into fifty five, like that's that's a group
(08:48):
that you know, I think historically can be difficult. I mean,
they're not one group, but they're different. But you know,
how can we outreach to them to let them know
what they have access to here? So that's really and
how do we do that? So those are some of
the easy things. And like I said, people more transient
that are live in an apartment complexes that you know
coming in from the outside to work, you know, in
(09:08):
the Baltimore d C, Columbia Horward County area, and you know,
they may just think they're moving to Columbia. It's just
the city, and I don't know. But then they don't
understand what Columbia Association does and we want them to
be able to take advantage of that. So those are
kind of the sort of low hanging things.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
Okay, I love it, thank you so. So switching gears
a little bit. Tell us a little bit about your background.
What brought you here. You're coming from Massachusetts, I understand,
so yeah, tell us little bit about your background and
you know how how your your past got you here?
Speaker 2 (09:41):
Oh sure, so you know, I'll go way back. So
I'm from Massachusetts, but my first I'm a civil engineer
by training, and my first job out of college was
in Baltimore at the State Highway Administration. Well yeah, and
it gets even better. Part of the program they had
for new engineers at the time, and I think they
still have it as you have to do these rotations
(10:03):
in different aspects of SAHA, and one of my rotations
was here in Columbia on a bridge construction project, and
I think it was RU thirty two, So that was
my first exposure to Columbia and I remember, you know,
it's a planned community and there's not a lot of signage,
and I remember at the time I could not find anything,
and I came to appreciate it the longer I was here.
(10:25):
But you know, when I went back to Massachusetts, and
I've spent you know, the last you know, twenty years
of municipal government and that encompasses a lot of management,
community planning, community development, a number of things. But I
always whenever I was involved in a planning project, I
always referred back to Colombia as a great well planned community.
And you know, when you're working in kind of the
(10:47):
Northeast where they're more established, older communities that you know,
they can never achieve what Columbia has, but they can
only aspire to it. So and so, you know, because
I've been working in municipal government on a manager level
for a number of years and then this position came up,
but I'd always remembered Columbia, and uh, you know, it
was a great interest to me.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
So here I am awesome, Well welcome, I appreciate you
collaborating on that. Yeah, I like talking about leadership on
the show, How would you describe your leadership style?
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Great question, I get that a lot. And uh, you know, historically,
I'm all about collaboration, communication, transparency, you know, you know,
and I like to recognize staff for you know, their
hard work, and I'm all about teamwork. So you know
those I say this a lot. I joke they sound
like buzzwords. They're really not. I said, well, you know,
(11:42):
when people work with me, I think they see like
that is really how I operate. I like to get
input from everybody. I like to leverage the skill set
of staff. You know, a lot of time staff are
in a position or in a department, but they have
a diverse skill set. So I like to create teams
to kind of leverage that and get the staff and
because they really contribute. So you know that, and you're
(12:04):
coming from the government side of things, I try to
be really transparent with what we do, how we do
it in trying to let the public know what's going
on as best we can.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Yeah, that's great. Yeah, A couple of things what you
said kind of stick out to me is, you know,
getting people working collaboratively and understanding what their strengths are,
putting them in teams so that they can work, you know,
off of each other. And I think that takes a
special skill set and also takes you knowing them really well,
which means you're fucking to them, You're conversion with them,
(12:37):
You're getting to know them as you know, as not
just employees and staff members, but people and what's going
to motivate them and you know they want to be
a part of that team and collaborate. So I love
that aspect. And the second thing was the transparency part.
I think I think it's more prevalent today than it
was probably even ten to fifteen years ago. But I
(13:00):
was a big firm believer when I was running the
DBJ about transparency and putting all the numbers up on
the board and just letting the team know where we
are and where we need to go, and you know, good,
bad or ugly. You know. I just I just think
that's an important aspect. I appreciate you. Appreciate you bringing
that up.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
No, I agree. I mean, and you know, as an engineer,
I'm a process guy, so you know, I really like,
you know, whenever we do anything, I like to have
a you know, a real a process in place for
us to kind of talk about, to collaborate on, and
then to enact and then you know, when things don't
go well, it's always good to look back and say, well,
here's the process we took to get there was well
(13:36):
thought out and well conceived, and you know what this
maybe this didn't go right or this or this did,
but you know, just so we know why. And that
goes back to transparency to show people like, yeah, here's
our decision making process. This is how we go about
what we're going to you know, deciding what we're going
to do. And that's important for people to see too.
So you know, like I said, not everything is always
one hundred percent successful, but I think people appreciate the
(13:58):
fact that they know what went into kind of the
planning and operations around a lot of these projects.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Yeah, and you mentioned some earlier about like you know,
being your background and uh be analytical metric driven, you
know things like that. I'm and I'm a firm believer
in that too, because that's the only way you can,
you know, learn from your mistake. You got to measure it,
understand it, and then look back on it and see,
(14:23):
you know, all right, what worked, what didn't what do
we need to adjust, what do we need to add
or subtract? So yeah, that's I think the there's not
enough of that going around. I think in leadership enough
of that really looking at the metrics of things, and
especially where I stand and working with folks now, intentions
there and you know a lot of good businesses are
(14:46):
run very profitably without it. But you know, if you
do have a good metric driven system in there, and
in a lot of the systems that you have in
your business, it can just go you know, much further,
and go.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Go further exactly. And you know, it's important not only
for you know, us, you know, CA is a nonprofit,
for the members of our community to see what we're doing,
but also for staff, you know, when we're planning to
do things and our approach, you know, the staff need
to buy in as well, and they need to understand
kind of you know, the data that we collect in
the importance of that and really get in in that
(15:20):
mindset themselves. So when they're out there working, you know,
in their specific position or their department, then in the
back of their mind and thinking, aria, how can I
measure this so that we can look at it in
a year and wonder, you know, and see if it's
successful or not. So it's really changing that mindset as well,
which is important too. So then they know, like you know,
how they're making their decisions on a day to day
(15:42):
basis reflects on the organization as a whole.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Exactly. Yeah, that's great. I appreciate you sharing that, man.
So so we'll get you excited about the future of
Columbia Association.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
I think you know, like I said, you know, Columbia
Association does so many things. We're trying to outreach in
the community. So you know, one thing I'm excited about.
You know, what a challenge is and I think I've
talked about this is you know, technology can make people
more disconnected and surprisingly so, as much as they feel
connected through technology, you know, physically they're disconnected. And CIA's
(16:18):
mission is really to engage our diverse community and bring
them together through you know, like I said, our facilities,
our programs, our services. You know, it's it's important for
those community members to connect and it's exciting that you know,
CIA is in a position that makes that happen in
the healthy way. So that is what I'm excited about.
And today kind of enact that and make that happen,
(16:38):
because I think we see, you know, on a daily basis,
it's you know, really you know, people kind of living
busy lives but not taking time to really be part
of the community and take advantage of what it has
to offer.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
Yeah, I agree, that's great. And so conversely, what what
keeps you up.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
At you know, you know, funding is a big part
of that. Economic uncertainty is a significant concern for our future.
So you know, you know, revenues are you know, dependent
on memberships, business and property values, so you know, any
fluctuation in those can have a significant impact on our
budget and what we do. So you know that keeps
(17:14):
me concerned. You know, we also, you know, in economic
uncertainty can also you know, makes us focus on balancing
affordability and accessibility in our facilities and programs and services.
So we want to make sure that you know, we're
providing the best we can with within budget constraints and
labor challenges. You know, we have a lot of staff here,
(17:35):
we have our thirteen hundred employees, so that labor market's
been tight since COVID, so it's really finding quality people
has been difficult. We've been very fortunate. You know, we
have an amazing staff here from top to bottom, but
maintaining that can be difficult in this climate. And then
you know, the other challenge I talked about is communication.
(17:57):
You know, we have a robust and intelligent communication and
marketing teams, but you know, it's really difficult in this
day and age to make sure you're reaching everybody. So
we you know, we really make a concerted effort in
that regard, and that is like I would tell you
what's on a daily basis, it's on an hourly basis.
We're constantly trying to communicate better. So we have great
staff doing that.
Speaker 1 (18:16):
Well, you're not alone there. I think that's one of
the biggest, uh, you know, kind of obstacles for many
organizations and communications, but especially ones that have you know,
thirteen hundred employees or more. So appreciate you sharing that.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
Well, yeah, I joke, you know, gone through the days
of the one newspaper where everyone get their news and
then when when people complain or you know, bring up hey,
I sure that, and I'm like, well, and I used
to joke and I still do. Short of hiring a
town crier to walk the streets just like yelling what
we have going on. I mean, I don't know how
(18:50):
much more we can do, but we're always making more
of an effort.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah, I mean you have to. And like you said earlier,
it's so fragmented now. I mean, you know it's it's
social media. Is that you know through email? That through signage,
is it through word of mouth? I mean that it's
so fractured nowadays that yeah, it's yeah, and you almost
have to be in almost every one of those mediums
because everybody's a little bit different, so they are. Yeah, yeah,
(19:15):
that's pretty crazy. Well to God. To wrap things up,
Is there anything else you'd like our listeners to know
about you and the Columbia Association.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
We'd love to have people come to Columbia either move
here or they're welcome to get memberships and use our facilities.
But also we do a great amount of programming around
our lakefronts, but also within the ten villages so that
the public can take advantage of the publican and take
advantage of our ninety five miles A pathways. So you know,
we would love people to be more exposed to Columbia
(19:46):
and what we have to offer in CAA in particular,
so you know, we'd love to have people visit. That'd
be great.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
Awesome, and how what's the best way to find more
information about Columbia Association.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
You can go to our website Columbia Associate dot org,
or you can follow us on Instagram and Facebook. Just
search Columbia Association and look for our green and blue
bloom awesome.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
Well, well, thank you so much. I really appreciate you
to spend the time with me this morning. It's good
to meet you. Welcome to the region. If there's anything
I can do to help you get more acclimated, please
let me know. I love doing that. So I appreciate
your time and help you have a great rest of
the week.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
My pleasure. Thanks for having me John, and have a
good rest of the week as well.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
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