Next week, municipal officials from all across South Carolina will come together in Greenville for the Municipal Association’s Annual Meeting, which will take a look at everything from economic development opportunities to the ways that local governments can get involved in mental health resources, artificial intelligence and productive public discourse. The conference agenda, as well as several session previews, can help registered officials decide what sessions they want to attend.
Session previews
Municipal Association Executive Director Todd Glover and Chief Operating Officer Jake Broom joined a recent podcast to talk about many of the Annual Meeting sessions, including those on community placemaking projects, workforce talent development and civic academies.
Concurrent sessions will take place throughout the conference, covering everything from managing rising municipal insurance costs to economic development incentives for downtown business districts, redevelopment of Brownfields sites and collaboration between municipal and county governments.
One of the concurrent sessions on July 18, “Partnering for Well-being – Effective Mental Health Resource for Local Government,” will feature Deborah Blalock, the deputy director who manages the Division of Community Mental Health Services, the statewide network of outpatient clinics. It will also feature Peter Camelo, executive director of one of these facilities, the Greater Greenville Mental Health Center, which has clinics in Greenville, Greer and Simpsonville. The Association’s 2024 Advocacy Initiatives at the General Assembly included support for additional funding through the state budget and other resources for mental health services for residents.
Beyond the general and concurrent sessions, the Annual Meeting will have quick, 15-minute sessions throughout on cooperative purchasing and technology topics. The “Purchasing Made Simple” sessions will cover topics involved with the City Connect Market, the Municipal Association’s cooperative purchasing program partnership with HGACBuy, such as new purchasing contracts, public safety equipment, sparks and recreation equipment and sanitation vehicles. The “Tech Talks” sessions with the Association’s technology partner, VC3, will cover critical information on issues like cyber insurance, IT services, multi-factor authentication and disaster recovery.
Use the Municipal Association app for meeting information
The Municipal Association of SC app offers plenty of information for the Annual Meeting. Attendees can use the app to plan which of the various concurrent sessions they want to attend. It also provides users with information on speakers, exhibitors, parking and shuttles.
Users should note that the app only refreshes when they navigate through it, selecting links. If they have not navigated through the app since a previous meeting, then old meeting information may populate when they open the app. They can correct this by selecting links to make the app update itself.
Download the app from either the App Store or Google Play by searching for “Municipal Association of SC.” Association staff will be available at the Annual Meeting to assist with the app.