The lifecycle of a business and a community includes many transitions. Sometimes the transition is around products, sometimes it is centered on moving into or out of a specific market and sometimes the transition is at the top.
During these "Dog Days of Summer," our region is dealing with leadership transitions among some of its largest employers, including national, regional and global businesses, as well as local governments and colleges.
Transition at any time is difficult because change is always hard to deal with. New relationships must be built, new affiliations will be forged and entirely new directions will emerge through the vision of these new leaders. Let’s take a look at where these leadership transitions are taking place and what could be in store for the region as a result.
Much has already been written and discussed about the leadership needs of the City of Ridgefield. Ridgefield is poised to grow exponentially during the next 10 years, and leadership is essentially absent. What happens, or doesn’t happen, in Ridgefield over the coming years will affect the entire county.
For the city officials and residents addressing this problem, there is good news and bad news. The bad news, of course, is that the worst time to be leaderless is when your community is on the brink of record growth. The good news is that now that they’ve seen how bad it can be, the residents and business owners must make sure they have all the pieces in place to rebuild that leadership in a manner that invites civic pride and an opportunity for the business community to grow along with the city.
The trustees of Clark College made a business decision regarding their leadership and concluded it was the right time to change leaders. The institution has been through significant change in the last three years following the disruptive and contentious departure of Tana Hassart. The appointment of Bob Knight as acting president of the college is a clear confidence builder on campus and gives the college as a whole time to address the transition with competent leadership still in place. For the business community, we hope that Knight, the trustees and the eventual president of Clark College recognize the resource Clark College has become to the business community, and continue the efforts of their Workforce Development Department.
Though not directing events day to day at WSU Vancouver, the leadership provided by University President V. Lane Rawlins has contributed significantly to our local campus. We can only hope the Board of Regents looks for a successor who appreciates the "World Class, Face to Face" product Rawlins championed and that Vancouver Campus Chancellor Hal Dengerink and his faculty deliver through the many partnerships they foster in the local business community.
The Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce has also made a transition at the top with the appointment of Beth Quartarolo as its new president. Balancing the needs of a diverse membership is no easy task, though Quartarolo’s familiarity with the organization as one of its officers should serve her well as she takes the helm. The Chamber of Commerce in Battle Ground is another story. Another of our communities bursting at the seams, Battle Ground has seen businesses of all sizes moving in, and the Chamber will find it necessary to focus on the business community it is becoming and not so much on the community they remember.
Three local companies with national and worldwide footprints are also poised to begin or have begun to transition. New Edge Networks, Electric Lightwave Inc. and Columbia Machine all will likely have new leaders by summers end.
Dan Moffat built not only a $144 million nationwide broadband network and transactional service company, he built a culture of continuing education, public celebration of successes and loyalty that leaves a huge legacy and expectation to uphold. Electric Lightwave Inc. similarly grew up locally and out of the fabled dot-com era. The changes driven by ELI’s transition have already begun with the transfer of many employees to the Integra office in Portland. Columbia Machine is transitioning to the third generation amid continued strong national and international sales with an expanded product line. One of the county’s largest employers for years with a true worldwide presence, Columbia Machine has been mostly under the local radar. We hope the family leadership will bring further accomplishments and successes to be shared with our community.
Leadership comes from those people willing to address the issues, make decisions based on what’s best for those that they lead and be responsible for the decisions they make. We have some new leaders who seem to fit these qualifications and are positioned to help lead our community through what promises to be an eventful next year.
