City of Milford Career Trek & Networking Event
January 10, 2020
Topic
City of Milford career trek and networking event
As the winner of ICMA's 2019 Best Chapter Event, the University of Delaware (UD) ICMA student chapter was challenged to plan more impactful and engaging events in the 2019 - 20 academic year! On January 10, 2020, a career trek and networking event was held in the City of Milford, a historic shipbuilding community located on the Mispillion River in the heart of Delaware's Kent and Sussex Counties. The event was organized by UD ICMA student chapter co-presidents Danielle Littmann (UD MPA ’20) and Jason Wardrup (UD MPA ’20); chapter advisor Marcia Scott; and Christine Hoh (UD MPA ’19), an ICMA local government management fellow with the Cities of Lewes and Milford.
The chapter submitted and was thrilled to win a UD Career Center Faculty & Staff Career Innovation Grant (FSCIG) grant. It supported travel and lunch costs of the networking event that engaged students, members of the City Management Association of Delaware, and other community leaders.
The event was designed to connect students, interested in careers in local government, with municipal managers, local government staff members, non-profit professionals, and community volunteers. The event was held at Arena’s Restaurant, adjacent to Milford’s scenic Mispillion Riverwalk and historic downtown. Local government leaders made presentations to educate attendees on municipal environmental and economic sustainability efforts in Delaware.
Ann Marie Townshend (UD MPA ’96), City of Lewes City Manager, presented on the challenges of coastal planning in Delaware in the context of climate change and sea-level rise. Because Delaware is the nation’s lowest-lying state, communities are experiencing the effects of climate change with flooding that threatens the tourism economy, property values, infrastructure, and lives. All municipalities—not just coastal communities—need to conduct vulnerability risk assessments and plan strategies for mitigation and adaption. City of Rehoboth Beach Projects Coordinator Evan Miller (UD MPA ’17 and former ICMA Local Government Management Fellow) then spoke on Delaware’s Resilient Communities Partnership (RCP). A program of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and Delaware Coastal Programs Office (DCP), the partnership provides direct staffing, technical support, public outreach, and training to support municipal coastal and climate resiliency efforts in Delaware.
Three presenters focused on the City of Milford’s economic development efforts. City of Milford Planning and Economic Development Director Rob Pierce explained the state’s Downtown Development District (DDD) program. It was created to leverage state resources to spur private investment, improve commercial vitality, and enhance economic revitalization in designated downtown areas—including Milford. Trish Gerken, Director of Downtown Milford, Inc. (DMI) highlighted the national Main Street approach to revitalization. As a dynamic, non-profit economic development organization, DMI is accredited through the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Downtown Delaware Program. It works with business and property owners to beautify, revitalize, protect, preserve, and promote economic development in Milford. SaraKate Hammer, a community volunteer, presented on the historic Vinyard Shipyard as an economic development opportunity for Milford. Founded in 1896, the Vinyard Shipyard is the last remaining operational wooden boat shipyard in the U.S. As a legacy of Milford’s shipbuilding industry, it has the potential to foster heritage, ecological, cultural, and coastal tourism.
Involvement
Over 20 UD ICMA student chapter members and local government management professionals attended the event. Following the presentations, UD ICMA student chapter members informally conversed with the presenters and members of the City Management Association of Delaware (CMAD) during a networking lunch. Afterwards, the unseasonably warm weather offered a perfect opportunity to tour Milford’s Mispillion Riverwalk, Vinyard Shipyard, and historic downtown. Joan Lofland, who owns the shipyard with husband Sudler, personally gave a tour of the property with refurbished buildings, restored docks and launch area, and private maritime museum.
City of Milford Planning and Economic Development Director Rob Pierce next led the group on a tour of downtown Milford. He pointed out properties that have benefited from Delaware's Downtown Development District (DDD) program, are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and are beautified with public art. Overall, the tour engaged participants and provided an understanding of the roles that local officials, non-profits, the private sector, and citizens play in revitalizing the local economy and advancing Milford as an “Art Town. River Town. Home Town.”
Impact
The Milford career trek and networking event was an outstanding success! The career trek provided a unique opportunity to expose UD ICMA student chapter members to potential local government career paths and broaden their understanding of sustainability challenges facing municipalities.
The event leveraged UD’s well-positioned and successful MPA alumni, who are excited to share their insights and personal local government career stories with students. Participants engaged with members of the City Management Association of Delaware around specific interests through targeted learning, conversation, and informal networking. This impactful event sparked students' aspirations to explore local government career opportunities in planning, economic development, project management, and environmental sustainability.
View the video of the event! https://bit.ly/UDICMA2020bestevent