A Letter From Our President
We are halfway through the fiscal year and so much has occurred within the MDGFOA. As your current President, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on what the fiscal year has brought to our organization and its members.
Fiscal Year 2019 saw the creation of the Young Professionals Affinity Group (YPAG). This group exists to foster and encourage the younger generation of our financial professionals, both students and currently employed fiscal professionals, by giving its members the necessary forums and tools to create the culture, knowledge, and opportunities to both enter a career in government finance as well as continue to succeed in their professional development. The YPAG meets on a quarterly basis at a local establishment for Happy Hour. The group already met this past October for its inaugural event and has scheduled a follow-up meeting for Friday, January 18, at Victoria Gastro Pub in Columbia, MD from 4:00 – 7:00 PM. Join us!
This year has also seen the expansion of the highly successful CPFO training classes. Initially, these classes were an instructional review for the materials for the first couple of CPFO exams. As many of you may know, the CPFO exams are not just a couple of exams, but a series of exams. So, in order to properly serve our membership, the MDGFOA has expanded the CPFO courses to include the furthering series of CPFO exams. Please refer to our website soon for upcoming CPFO course dates.
Lest I forget, the MDGFOA has added E-Learning courses for our members. This knowledge center has seen high levels of success with members actively taking these courses. Our MDFOA populous have been pleased with the content and the ease of taking these online courses.
The MDGFOA Fall Conference took place on Friday, October 26th, at the BWI Marriott in Linthicum, MD. There was a wide range of topics discussed from an economic update to improving cyber security to AAA bond rating to Maryland revenue update to school reform to leadership/management training. The conference was a huge success and even saw a bit of Southwestern flavor with a fajita lunch.
The next conference will be the Winter Conference on Friday, January 25th, BWI Marriott in Linthicum, MD. We have a fantastic slate including: a GASB update, cyber insurance and responding to cyber-attacks, arbitrage and post-issuance compliance, Federal and Legislative update, and budget transparency and community involvement. We hope to see you there!
As I draw this newsletter to a close, I wanted to thank each and every member of the MDGFOA. You have made a commitment to make knowledge a priority. You come to our organization’s conferences. You are part of our affinity groups. You attend our educational classes. You serve on our committees and Board. My challenge is for each of our members to become more involved in the MDGFOA. Become part of our various affinity groups and committees and, through this endeavor, seek out even more knowledge. As Benjamin Franklin said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest”.
Jason Zimmerman, President, MDGFOA
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