This year's IFMA Spring Classic was held on April 29th at the newly remodeled and beautiful Legacy at Lanier. The events included golf, tennis, horseback riding and the famous Coca-Cola wine cruise around a full Lake Lanier.

The weather couldn't have been custom ordered any better; and it should have been, because we hosted two facilities managers from The Weather Channel. The attendance this year surpassed last year's event by 12%. The mood was festive, relaxed and enjoyed by all who made the wise decision to participate this year.

On May 6th and 7th, the Board met in LaGrange for its annual strategic planning session. Upon our arrival, we were advised that, regretfully, Milliken would be closing its LaGrange Design Center and Guest House at the end of the month.
 
Milliken has loyally supported the Atlanta Chapter and hosted our Board Retreat for many, many years, and it was with great sadness that we visited this beautiful place for the last time. The Guest House was built in 1938 by the Callaway family. It's a beautiful Greek Revival set on 3 acres of land surrounding a private lake. In the 60's it was bought by Milliken,and since then has been expanded to its present capacity of 20 guest rooms.It boasts a 5 star chef and highly trained staff who cater graciously to the guest's  needs. Our favorite feature is the large open breezeway porch, equipped with a stone fireplace and rocking chairs overlooking a  fountain pool featuring graceful bronze sculptures. Year after year for the past decade, Board members have for the past decade enjoyed the excellent hospitality that Milliken has so generously offered  to our Chapter.
 
I'd like to share some of Tommy's Miller's words with the Board at dinner on Thursday night. With the economic climate change of the past year, Tommy revealed that for the first time in his Milliken career he received "no's" when requesting sponsorship opportunities, but  when he asked for IFMA, the return answer came back in mere minutes and that was "IFMA? Absolutely!" This kind of loyalty from our Sustaining Patron members is the result of long standing relationship building and is the core of our
Chapter philosophy.
 
Milliken, happily, still maintains (and will shortly begin renovation on) a Design Center and Guest House in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the Milliken family home. The Board is already making plans for a bus ride to next year's Strategic Planning Retreat. Once again, we want to thank Milliken for their many years of loyal support to the Chapter.
 
One last note: we will be posting a video of the Guest House on
our website - be sure to take a look and say farewell to a grand lady.

2009 was a busy year for the Elaine Clark Center! The facility's pleasing appearance shows the obvious signs of improvement, from clutter removal and reorganization, to vibrant interior paint, to beautiful asbestos free flooring! All who enter our doors recognize the incredible work that has been done to boost the look and operations of the Center to better represent the quality services provided here. Without a doubt, the building looks amazing, but perhaps the most significant gains for the Center over the past year are the partnerships that have been built with benevolent individuals and companies who have so generously shared their expertise to enhance our daily operations. These partnerships are made possible entirely by the IFMA Community Service Committee, and without them, what was thought to be impossible a year ago would still be impossible.  

Over the past year, our building was renovated, plans were developed to improve our landscaping, a maintenance manual has been drafted, and we began the process of initiating a capital campaign with the primary goal of expanding our facility to increase services and programs for children and young adults with special needs. As the Executive Director at the Center, I have witnessed the outstanding generosity and effort of numerous volunteers who accomplished the renovations, and the IFMA Community Service Committee has played a very integral part. They did not demand publicity or even need to be asked to set plans into motion. They simply volunteered their expert services, and what they set out to do was achieved in record time, every time.

The IFMA Community Service Committee is well represented in our long list of individuals to thank for sharing their time and talents with us. Andy Hoover with The Best Consultant completed a building assessment, Valerie Legato with Atlanta Flooring Design Center helped us secure a new floor with the appropriate aesthetics and resilience required of a child development center, Alan Jones with the Wegman Group devised plans for relocating classroom equipment to ensure that we did not have to close down during renovations, volunteers from Akzo Nobel moved furniture in preparation for the renovation and then returned to out everything back in its place after projects were completed, Greg Lewis with the McKinley Group volunteered his company's services to beautify our landscape, Larry Fried with SERVPRO developed ideas for asbestos abatement, and Barb Miller with Akzo Nobel provided invaluable project management to see our renovations to fruition.  

It is not only what these great people did, rather how they did it that has impacted us the most. They provided timely, constructive, and honest advice. There were no hoops to jump through, and no huge proposals to write. When I had a problem or question, they ensured that I knew how to reach the right person for the job. With a grateful heart, I thank the IFMA Community Service Committee for its dedication to supporting nonprofits like the Elaine Clark Center to better meet the needs of those we serve. My specialty is education. I operate a program that supports children with special needs from 6 weeks to 22 years old through early intervention, developmental assessments, childcare, private elementary and secondary education for children who are not thriving in public schools, summer camps, respite care, pediatric nursing, therapeutic services, and social service coordination. Ask me about those programs, and I can point you in the right direction. But ask me about how often you should have floors refaced or when roof maintenance is required, and I will stare at you blankly. Our partnership with IFMA has allowed us to enhance our facility so it does not detract from the quality of our program. The IFMA Community Service Committee has equipped our Center with the information, leadership, and connections necessary to update our facility, yet continue operating within our means. With such economic uncertainty, it is truly rewarding to have partners like IFMA who genuinely care about community.   

Beth Schmehling, Executive Director
The Elaine Clark Center and Heart of Hope Academy 

IFMA members and guests attending the May luncheon were treated to a panel discussion byrepresentatives of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee and Jones Lang LaSalle with a presentation of information on surrounding the construction of BCBST's new headquarters campus in Chattanooga.  BCBST executive Bob Worthington led off with a discussion of the key factors that led to the decision to build a new $299.1 million dollar campus. 

The company decided to consolidate its eleven facilities spread throughout Chattanooga to a new campus on the top of a historic mountain near downtown. The leadership viewed the office environment as key to the transformation to "The New Blue".  Bob spelled out the project objectives: