Ron Zeigler
I hope you all had a very merry holiday season!
CEDA is starting 2025 with renewed energy and excitement for the year ahead. As interest in CEDA’s services continues to grow, so does our team. In the last two decades, we have seen rapid growth in the number of employees and the physical geography we cover, and last year our leadership determined that it was time to reorganize our management structure to better support our staff and communities.
We thoughtfully reworked our organizational structure to better serve our growing team and offer a transparent framework for internal career progression. Regional Manager positions were added and departments were clearly defined to better support our team and the work they do. New positions were filled in the fall and everyone is settling in. While this framework is still new and we’re still working out all of the kinks, these changes have already proven to be a positive step forward for our organization.
These changes have also included new executive leadership. I would like to proudly announce CEDA’s new Chief Operations Officer, James Hanke, and Chief Mission Officer, Courtney Bergey Swanson. Their passion for rural economic development is an asset to our organization and the communities we serve.
Courtney will be a familiar face to many of you, starting with CEDA almost nine years ago. With over 15 years of experience providing creative, place-based support to rural communities, Courtney most recently served as CEDA’s Vice President of Development and Collaborative Services. Her leadership has grown the Community Grants Department and has been instrumental in developing CEDA’s Strategic Initiatives.
As a lifelong resident of western Wisconsin, James received his undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a master’s degree in Community & Economic Development from Penn State’s World Campus. James has twenty-five years of community and economic development experience in Wisconsin serving in various roles in both the public and private sector. James joined CEDA in 2023 as Vice President of Wisconsin Operations.
Looking ahead, I’m excited to see what 2025 brings for CEDA. Changes are inevitable for a growing organization, but our commitment to bettering rural communities has never wavered.
Thank you for being a part of this journey with us.
