April 21, 2015
More than 50 municipal officials, engineers, and technical assistance partners attended the 2015 Smart Management for Small Communities conference in Blue Mountain Lake, NY, April 21-23. As part of the Syracuse University EFC’s Public Management and Finance Program (PMFP), this conference series has provided local leaders with practical resources to bring back to their communities every year since 2003, with topics including sustainable materials management, municipal operation efficiency, asset management, watershed management, comprehensive planning, and more.
This year, an Environmental Finance Center Network (EFCN) partner, EFC West, offered new leadership training sessions on long-term community planning and persuasive techniques to motivate action. NYSDEC also offered a new session on municipal forest management, including a tree identification walk through the conference center grounds.
“Every nuance of this conference makes for an ease of information exchange, networking and connecting folks with the resources that fuel their local economies, save taxpayer dollars and introduce new technology and positive change to communities that might otherwise miss incredible opportunities for sustainability,” said a conference participant.