dear colleague

The IEDC Board of Directors and staff send our most heartfelt sympathy to the many who have lost loved one, homes, jobs, and entire communities to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina. In these times of crisis, economic developers must show great leadership in recovering and protecting their

The best way to help immediately is to donate money to a reputable charity that is helping with disaster relief. The role and expertise of IEDC and our membership is in the long-term building of communities, businesses and jobs, and we will offer this expertise to our Gulf coast colleagues and their communities. We will do this by establishing a clearinghouse to match the skills volunteered by members with communities in need.

We will also accomplish this by involving volunteer teams of member experts to provide advisory services. These services may include assessing needs, conducting strategic planning, sharing real estate development expertise, conducting economic impact analysis-in short, any of a wide range of functions that are the economic developer's typical tools. We look forward to having you register online to join our database of volunteer member experts.