Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine MOMENTUM Holiday 2017 Final | Page 6

2017 Board of Directors
Steve Paterson
President & CEO
League City Regional Chamber
Being Thankful!
As 2017 winds down for the year, we look back on what a year it has
been. The torrential rainfall from Hurricane Harvey and the flooding of
homes and businesses to the beginning of construction on I-45 and five
corners to the many changes in the local governments of the
communities we serve to name a few. Simply put, it has been a year for
the books. We are in a world that is rapidly changing and growing!
When a window closes another one opens, and change is usually for the
better. League City and Galveston County communities can take
advantage of the challenges and changes that are facing us by acting in
a unified and directed effort.
We have problems; however, these are good problems to have. Growth
brings its own set of problems as we must address traffic problems,
more utilities and services to take care of the growing population. These
services all cost money, and somebody must pay. Currently in most of
the communities in Galveston County this is the residents who own their
homes and support the schools, cities and county through taxes.
Currently residents bear most of the weight.
However, we are making great strides in economic development to
build a business base, which can offset the burden on residents. This is
true county wide as each community is working together to take
advantage of this “Bay Area Boom” that we are experiencing in
healthcare, bio-tech and aerospace as well as upstream petrol-chemical.
On December 5th at Moody Gardens, the seventh annual Galveston
Economic Development Summit will occur with government officials,
developers, venture capitalists, educational institutions, economic
development professionals and many others interested in Galveston
County and its cities and municipalities as potential headquarters,
business campuses for manufacturing and logistical services and
research and development enterprises will gather. Topics such as
innovation, technology, maritime and other economic opportunities will
be discussed and featured to bring attention to and educate the
communities on what is happening organically and how to better take
advantage of this growth through management of the opportunities
presented. We want to bring an awareness to those stakeholders to
make sure we extract the full benefit to our communities to provide a
sustained quality of life.
The passage of the county bond issues this past month and the
investment of those monies into the communities of Galveston County
is a great start to providing infrastructure and other needs to the cities
to keep up with the dynamic growth we are experiencing. Do we have
problems? Yes. However, a lot of communities would like to have these
problems. So even though it may be frustrating each day we drive
around town, we have a lot to be thankful for and watching how our
communities will benefit in 2018 and the coming years is an exciting
proposition if we can solve these problems together.
Steve Paterson
Chairman, Ray Soto
Soto Financial & Insurance
Treasurer, Charlton Cotton
Norman Frede Chevrolet
Secretary, Jason Long
UTMB
Past Chairwoman, Jill Kaiser
UFCU
2018 Incoming Chairwoman, Rebecca Lilley
Memorial Hermann
2019 Incoming Chairman, Bill Provenzano Hometown
Bank of League City
Laura Dupont
CCISD
Gloria Greene
Elite Care 24 Hour ER
Julie Howell
Lakewood Yacht Club
Matthew Mathias
Clear Lake Regional Medical Center
Dr. Warren Nichols
College of the Mainland
Bix Rathburn
RPC Consulting
Dan Seal
BAHEP
Becky Trout
UTMB Health
Teresa Vencil
Haute Flowers & Finds
Peter Wuenschel
CIS - Bay Area
John Baumgartner
Ex-Officio, City of League City
Theresa Rodriquez
Ex-Officio, Baytran
Lisa Howard
Ex-Officio, HOT Tax Board
Laura Teatsworth - Peggy Zahler
Ex-Officio, HOA Alliance
Amanda Fenwick
Ex-Officio, Mayor Pro Tem, Clear Lake Shores