03/10/2020
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Good Tuesday Afternoon MTAS,
Wow – what a week we had in the state last week: a major tornado traveled through the mid-state and the first case of COVID-19 was announced. On top of that, we had Super Tuesday, and the stock market took a beating. That’s a lot to take in at one time. I hope that you are holding strong and that you are staying healthy. Please don’t forget the fabulous EAP program the state has for us if you feel anxious or overwhelmed by recent news. Here is the link to their site: https://www.here4tn.com/ and here is the toll free phone number: 855-Here4TN (855-437-3486).
So, how about a bright spot to cheer us up? We had four work anniversaries, all on March 1. Congratulations to Al, Pat, Sarah, and Kay. Between these four fine folks, they share 79 years of MTAS history. That number is amazing to me. Thanks for your commitment to MTAS, and happy anniversary!
Thanks to Honna for letting me know that not everyone was aware of Dawn Crawford’s retirement from Public Entity Partners (formerly the TML Risk Management Pool). I received an email about the change on February 28, and did not realize that the email wasn’t widely distributed. Charles DeMore has been named as President/CEO. Charles has been with the organization since 2004, so he’s no stranger to their operations. He became their chief financial officer in 2009 and was named executive vice president/CFO in 2011.
So, are you curious about how the family campaign is going? I’m happy to report that MTAS stands at an 89% participation rate. I know Armintha just sent an email saying that the campaign is over, but you can still give, and your contributions make a difference. Can you help me out by getting us closer to the 100% mark? For those 41 employees who have contributed – THANK YOU!!!! The family campaign is our fundraising efforts for ourselves (MTAS, IPS, UT). We stand to benefit from our contributions. Even if it’s a small, one-time contribution – every donation counts.
I’ll leave you this week with a quote I heard at the ICMA Southeast regional conference that I attended last week. The session I was attending was on the topic of making democracy work. The quote is from Eleanor Roosevelt and it is, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” I hope you have beautiful dreams and a brilliant future. After reading all of your 2020 work plan goals for next year, I truly believe we’ll have an amazing year together.
Sincerely,
Margaret
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