09/04/2026
We all always have a lot on our plates. There was plenty of work waiting for each of us, and plenty more we could have gotten done this afternoon. But sometimes you have to decide the work will still be there tomorrow, put it aside, and go have Mexican food and a beverage with the people you spend your days working alongside. So that's what the SCDC team did this afternoon for our quarterly team bonding at El Coyote.
For a couple of hours, we successfully avoided discussing economic development, how to fund it, what to prioritize, or most of the other things that normally occupy our brains.
Instead, we discussed the ethics of eating meat, dairy versus non-dairy milk products, nature shows, Facebook algorithms, the amazing food at American Market in Empire and specifically the chicken curry, where to catch the best salmon from land instead of a boat, and the realization that none of us drinks very much water. This was followed by a discussion of newer research suggesting that may be okay, which conveniently made the people concerned about it feel better.
A few other accomplishments:
• Executive Director Lexie Woodward appreciates Operations Manager Patrick Cahill for remembering that it was time for quarterly team bonding again.
• We successfully brought all four employees this time. Three of our offices are together on one side of the building, while Entrepreneurship Manager Jude Anderson office is all by itself on the other side with the business incubator. At our last team outing, Jude had asked us to let him know when we were leaving. We did not. We all arrived at the restaurant, realized we were missing an employee, and called him while he was still sitting in his office waiting for us. This time, he received very explicit instructions: We are not coming to get you. Be there at 3:00. All four employees arrived successfully.
• During the course of conversation, one member of the team discovered that SCDC is closed Monday for Labor Day. So, really, this outing served as an an important internal communications function.
Quarterly team bonding: accomplished. All employees accounted for. Nobody is coming to work Monday. And we learned your economic development team is fueled by non-water sources, caffeinated and not.
We remain cautiously optimistic about how little water is actually necessary to sustain human life.
