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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

VEDC Board Overcomes Hurdles to Grow Agency

VEDC Board Overcomes Hurdles to Grow Agency Non-Profits Best Board of Directors: Valley Economic Development Center By BRAD SMITH Staff Reporter Every 501(c)3 has a board. Some boards, as the saying goes, are long, hard, and narrow. Others are capable, dedicated, and a pleasure to work for and with. The Valley Economic Development Center’s governing body is that kind of board, according to the director of the organization. “In the 20 years I’ve worked for non-profits this has probably been one of the most supportive boards of directors I’ve ever had,” said VEDC president Roberto Barragan, who has seen the agency’s client load increase from 2,000 a year when he started there 10 years ago to more than 4,000 annually today. “They have taken a very proactive approach in supporting the staff.” The Board of Directors of a non-profit have three main tasks: hire and manage the president; solicit and raise money and serve as the public relations arm for the agency, Barragan said. “They have done a tremendous job in all three categories,” he said. The board, including current and former chairs Wayne Adelstein and Marvin Selter, have overseen the organization’s significant expansion over the last several years. Selter, a veteran board member, supervised the organization’s restructuring after a conflict-of-interest scandal in the late 1990s. The president of VEDC at that time, John Rooney, was accused of illegally accepting consulting fees. He was later cleared of any wrongdoing by VEDC and city audits, but both Rooney and David Honda, the then-chairman of the board, resigned amid pressure from other board members. Selter and the new board then implemented changes to prevent future problems. In the past five years, the 26-year-old organization’s budget has doubled to $5.5 million annually; the number of offices has risen from four to 10; full-time-equivalent employees from 45 to 60; and the client load has doubled. At the same time, the VEDC’s efforts have lead to the creation of 150 new businesses, with 600 new jobs, in 2003-04 alone. “And they’ve never micro-managed me,” Barragan said. “It has always been about policy making.”

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