President's Message
Auggie Campbell, President, West Houston Association

West Houston AssociationWe ended March with a hit: The City Issues Forum featuring Mayor Turner gathered more than 220 attendees. April is loaded with WHA events and activities. Our next hit will be the second annual Sporting Clays event on April 18th. WHA will end the month with its first Technical Forum of 2016 on the Envision Rating System (April 28th). Throughout April, we will host other activities, like a mobility workshop and six committee meetings.

Our Board, committee members, and other partners have laid down a steady stream of good ideas and have been fantastic in helping WHA follow through. For example, several of our board members, including Peter Houghton and John Moody, advocated for sustainable, small-group leadership development. Board members Kelly Showalter, Chanda Chacon, and Jim Boone volunteered to work on the steering committee that put together our “Rising Leaders” Program. WHA’s Rising Leaders will get a unique perspective on WHA and our area through events like private facility tours at the Shell Technology Center and Texas Children’s Hospital (West Campus). This year, the Rising Leaders Program is made up of individuals nominated by one of our Quality Growth Partners and with more than five and less than fifteen years of industry experience. We have a great program for this year and are already working on plans for next year.

Last year, WHA reconstituted its committees and came up with idea of the Sporting Clays event to help fund the Quality Planned Development Campaign. The event drew a great crowd, allowing us to create a QPD website and partially fund the QPD marketing campaign. The Second Annual Sporting Clays event appears on target again this year. Proceeds from Sporting Clays fund our Quality Planned Development campaign.

WHA’s committees have developed regular meeting schedules for all of 2016, and the momentum from these regular meetings have made an impact. Our committee chairs and members have attracted new members and great speakers. For example, our committees will develop and host at least three Technical Forums this year. And we are working on policy papers, project lists, and new designations that will help influence development to increase quality, connectivity, and sustainability of the growth that will come to Greater West Houston.

The West Houston Association remains committed to quality growth and stronger communities. We appreciate the community that brings the vision to sustain our commitment.