ALLIED ASSOCIATIONS
NGCOA Embarking on a New Journey: The NGCOA is instituting a new strategic plan in order to become the most valuable business resource and advocate for golf course owners and operators The NGCOA recently completed the development of a new strategic plan, and we would like to share where we currently are. And because strategic planning is such a journey, as opposed to a race with a clear finish line, weâd also like to give you a sense of whatâs to come. A new strategic plan often comes with the hiring of a new leader. But our purpose was more than that. We decided a new way forward was needed after watching the Great Recession impact your businesses. We saw the pressure course owners and operators were under to operate profitably. And we understood the new economy forced you to question the value of everything, including the value the NGCOA brought to your business. We now have a comprehensive plan designed to achieve our vision of being your most valuable business resource and advocate. It centers around three key efforts: education, advocacy and commerce. On the education front, we are already creating additional content to complement Golf Business while providing a deeper dive on subjects most important to you. This is taking shape in a robust offering of webinars and podcasts, at new educational events, and on information-sharing platforms like our highly-successful Accelerate, which in addition to its active listserv is already housing a full library of articles, whitepapers and more. In any form, you can be confident the information will be relevant, easy to access, pragmatic and actionable. In short, content that makes you smarter and more competitive. We are committing more than ever to protecting our membersâ and the industryâs best interests. For the first time, the NGCOA is investing to become the leading advocate for golf courses not only on public policy issues, but on intra-industry influences affecting
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your business. Nowhere is this more evident than in the recent hiring of a director of advocacy to lead this effort. Whether working with allied groups to fight regulatory threats or establishing standards to facilitate more favorable relationships with tee-time distributors, rest assured ownersâ and operatorsâ collective voices are being heard. The NGCOA sees its role as being a partner facilitating business activity for members. Education and advocacy play roles, but there is a specific effort in our plan to build sound, progressive programs and services that enhance economic growth and vitality for your business and the industry at large. Not unlike a chamber of commerce, your association wants to assist in bringing you business. That can take many formsâ the most obvious being by attracting and developing new players. But, new food-and-beverage programs, creating alternative uses for facilities and more are also key to success. The NGCOA team, led by our new director of commerce, will be developing and bringing these opportunities to members very soon. The strategic process is a journey. The best ones donât end up on a bookshelf gathering dust, but executed daily and refined based on results. Weâre prepared to do just that. Again, this plan was built by listening carefully to what members want and need. In doing so, the importance of listening and two-way conversations were once again reinforced. Thereâs no other way something as important as a strategic plan can be accomplished. For that matter, thereâs no other way for the NGCOA to fulfill its mission. Joe Rice is the Chief Strategy Officer of the National Golf Course Owners Association.