I wanted to share a few timely, nostalgic thoughts about the formation of Strategic Development Group (SDG) 25 years ago.
It was mid-January of 1999. I recently resigned from my position as a state economic development executive and, after much planning and deliberation, set out to launch SDG. My brother, a writer, was living in a modest efficiency in South Beach, Miami, working on a number of projects, including a novel based in Cuba. I called my brother to ask if I could visit for my 39th birthday and spend a week retreat with him to gather my thoughts and get started.
And so, I went to South Beach with my flip phone and laptop to dust off my business plan and get organized. With a family at home expecting to eat meals regularly and go to college, I was full of positive anticipation and ample fear with the prospect of a business start-up. Whether rationale or not, I felt it was time for me to take this path.
Fast-forward 25 years, I found myself in South Beach to be part of a Site Selectors Guild Winter Retreat with top economic developers and some of my respected site selection colleagues. The event was held at the Stanton Hotel, a historic art deco icon, that happened to be located several hundred yards from my brother’s former residence in South Beach where I worked on final formation of SDG.
Last week created an unexpected sentimental milestone. I found myself in South Beach, exactly 25 years to the week from the time I set out to form SDG, within eyesight of the modest apartment where this journey began.
More on SDG’s 25th Anniversary to come.
