Greater Spokane Incorporated’s 2014 Annual Meeting last week featured Steve Stevens, GSI’s new president & CEO. Steve has been with GSI now for a little more than two months, but has already been getting very engaged with the community and has started a local business road trip – Prez On the Road.
The Annual Meeting was a success with nearly 1,000 in attendance. One top priority for Steve and the organization is to invite all members to get more engaged. From committee and event involvement, to speaking about your business issues, GSI invites you to participate. Even if events aren’t right for you, there are other ways to participate. Not sure how to get involved? Contact us and we’ll be sure to get you connected.
Along with the reporting of progress (see Annual Report) GSI has made throughout the year, Steve wanted to find out what questions businesses had for him. Not all of them could be answered during the meeting, but each one will be answered over the next couple of months. Since Steve is new to this community, he also wanted to know what members of the audience thought about the ideas they have for moving our community forward. It takes a community to push the needle, so he asked, “what is your big idea for the Spokane region, what is a vibrant community, and what does GSI mean to you?”
This year’s luncheon sponsor STCU asked the audience to participate in their “Who Do You Love” campaign by giving everyone the opportunity to vote for a local nonprofit of their choice they believe should receive a donation. And the winners are….. Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery and Second Harvest of the Inland Northwest. Congratulations! Each have won a donation of $1,000! Thanks STCU for including the donation as part of the annual meeting.
Big thanks to our other sponsors: Legacy Sponsor – Avista, Major Sponsors – Asuris Northwest Health, Bouten Construction Company, Providence Health Care, Umpqua Bank, Washington State University Spokane, Whitworth University, Witherspoon Kelley. Supporting Sponsors – CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, Eastern Washington University, Garco Construction, Inc., Haskins Steel Co., Inc., IEDS Logistics, Inland Northwest Health Services, Integrus Architecture, Journal of Business, Kiemle and Hagood Company, Lydig Construction, Inc., Moss Adams LLP, U.S. Bank, UW Medicine, and Walmart. Event Sponsors – CH2M Hill and GeoEngineers, Inc.
For more information about accomplishments and priorities of GSI, view the Annual Report or the Annual Meeting Video above.