NACo First-time Attendee Breakfast attracts 350 at Annual Conference

Key Takeaways

NACo President James Gore rallied the troops July 11 at a First Time Attendees Breakfast that kicked off the 90th Annual NACo Conference before an estimated crowd of about 350 at the Philadelphia Convention Center. 

Before Gore spoke to the crowd, Membership Committee Chair Renee Couch, Comal County, Texas’ treasurer, welcomed attendees and the seasoned NACo ambassadors who met informally with attendees at each table. 

“Let me be the first to say, ‘Welcome to your first NACo Annual Conference!” Couch said. “It’s an exciting time as NACo celebrates its 90th anniversary.” She urged attendees to “make new and lasting connections” and encouraged them to join one of NACo’s 10 policy steering committees.

Gore, a Sonoma County, Calif., supervisor described how he “stumbled through” his first NACo Annual Conference in 2016 in Los Angeles County, Calif., and found himself diving headlong into a meeting about resilient counties, not long before his own county suffered from a devastating wildfire that wiped out thousands of homes and saw 40 deaths.

“I blinked and I asked to be involved and became the chair,” he said. “Six months later, we had the most catastrophic wildfire in my county’s history.”

Gore advised attendees to stay the course when things get choppy. 

“As you all know, you launch your ships into these stormy times, with things you want to do, things you want to pursue. The biggest part about this work is you have to stay focused on your north star, why you’re here, what you’re going to get out of this organization by what you put into it, best practices, ideas on how to do things better, focus on what you want to do and then you have to be ready to roll.”

“This is the place to find that passion, connection, ideas, access. Get involved. It’s an invitation. Just jump in.”

Gore also thanked Berks County, Pa. Commissioner Christian Leinbach and the rest of the Pennsylvania delegation for hosting the conference attendees from around the country.

Executive Director Matt Chase reminded the audience that they “are the owners of NACo.”

“Our role is to be the voice of county government. When you hear us talk about disruption at the federal level, it’s not from a Republican or Democrat perspective or independent, it’s from what is happening to you as leaders of county government, and what’s going to end up on your plate. So, when you hear us talk about a ‘big shift,’ we are going through a huge shift, a devolution of responsibilities down to the state and local level. By our calculations, we’re going to see about $1 trillion worth of responsibility shifting to the state and local level. That’s just a fact.” 

And that is just from Medicaid and SNAP programs, he noted, adding that they’re not changing the eligibility of who is eligible as much as they are shifting the administrative costs.

“We’re not looking for a handout,” Chase said, “we’re looking for a seat at the table.”

Nationwide Retirement Solutions’ Dave Belnick recognied NACo’s 90th anniversary and noted that Nationwide will also be celebrating a big anniversary, its 100th, next year. He urged attendees to stop by the NACo EDGE Solutions Center to find out about programs to help their counties’ bottom line.

The Pennsylvanian also gave another hot tip to the crowd: “Where are the best Philly cheesesteaks? Try Uncle Gus’ Steaks at the Reading Terminal Market!”