SEWEDA board names Dawn Smith director

A new executive director for the Southeast Washington Economic Development Association (SEWEDA) has been appointed. Dawn Smith, previous office administrator in Asotin County with SEWEDA, has been named to the position by the organization's executive board.

Smith fills the position after the retirement of previous director Marshall Boak earlier this year.

Established in 1985, SEWEDA is a multi-county agency of Asotin, Columbia, Garfield and Whitman counties to promote economic development in the counties.

“It's getting the work done,” she said. “I just want to do the job.”

Smith said much of her work involves handling grants and book work.

“She's a very capable person,” said Dan Boone, one of the board members.

Commissioner Dean Kinzer, chairman of the SEWEDA board, said Smith's background as an office administrator will help her in her new role.

“She basically has been doing all the bookkeeping and covering all the bases on administrative work, too,” he said. “She knows all the ins and outs. She'll get to make the decisions now as to which direction things are going.”

Smith said a new office administrator will likely be hired for Asotin County.

Kinzer added that Smith has been a great asset to SEWEDA during her time with the organization.

“We think she's a very good choice,” he said. “We're hearing very good things from everyone who interacts with her.”

The Whitman County SEWEDA office, managed by Sarah McKnight, recently moved from Pullman to Colfax, and operates programs such as Cup O' Joe and the Expert is In, which brings in professionals for topics such as business development and recruitment and retention.

http://www.seweda.org