Earlier this month, NACCED held its 50th Annual Educational Conference and Training in Maricopa County, Arizona. Local government professionals from across the country – from Alaska to Florida - convened for three days of education and networking at the Sheraton Mesa Hotel at Wrigleyville West.
Prior to the start of the conference, first-time attendees gathered for a coffee reception with NACCED’s Board of Directors on Monday, September 8. The Board led an engaging discussion, giving newcomers the chance to connect with one another, gain insight into the upcoming conference programming and explore ways to stay involved with NACCED throughout the year. That evening, attendees traveled to the Arizona State University Media and Immersive Experience Center for a showing of Fault Lines, a movie providing an overview of the affordable housing shortage crisis in the Bay Area, and heard a panel presentation from local housing policy leaders.
When #NACCED25 officially began on Tuesday, September 9, members received a welcome from NACCED President David Sacks (Henrico County, VA) and a video welcome from Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ). City of Tempe Mayor Corey Woods followed with an address to the audience about local investments supporting community and economic growth. The program continued with a General Session titled Leadership in Times of Disaster featuring Stan Gimont, Senior Advisor for Community Recovery with Hagerty Consulting and Marion McFadden, Vice President of Disaster Recovery with IEM. The session was moderated by Marty Greenlee with Neighborly Software.
Stan and Marion highlighted lessons learned from real-world disaster recovery experiences, offering insights into crisis leadership, collaboration across sectors and strategies to build stronger, more resilient communities. Attendees walked away with practical tools to manage uncertainty, maintain public trust and safeguard essential services to ensure communities are equipped to withstand future weather challenges.
Conference host Jamie Macfarlane with Maricopa County, AZ introduced a video welcome from U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ). In their messages, both Senators Gallego and Kelly took the time to reaffirm their support for association priorities including the Community Development Block Grant and HOME Investment Partnerships programs.
Tuesday morning sessions concluded with the Build America, Buy America (BABA) 2.0 general session led by Erich Chatham, Principal Owner and Lead Consultant of Civitas. Erich was joined by Civitas colleagues Maggie Blake and Grace Orr, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Program Specialists. The group discussed domestic sourcing rules for iron, steel, manufactured products, and construction materials, along with HUD’s phased implementation approach and current enforcement policies. Attendees also learned how to assess project applicability, navigate the BABA waiver process, and ensure compliance through proper documentation and reporting.
After attendees enjoyed lunch from locally-sourced businesses, the conference resumed with breakout sessions including Turning Public Assets into Affordable Housing; Playing by the Rules: Developing High-Capacity Subrecipients and Effective Partnerships; and Next-Level Workforce: Innovation, Inclusion, and Impact.
On Tuesday afternoon, the conference resumed its annual tradition of “Passport to Win,” a special break where attendees got to meet exhibitors and be entered to win a free registration from next year’s conference, to take place October 5-8 in Baltimore County, MD. The afternoon’s breakout sessions continued with Best Practices of Housing Rehab; From Crisis to Care: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Encampments; and National Environmental Policy Act 101.
The first day of the conference concluded with the annual John C. Murphy Scholarship Fund reception and silent auction, sponsored by ZoomGrants. This year’s reception incorporated a 35th anniversary celebration of the HOME Investment Partnerships program which included 1990’s-themed décor, bingo trivia and sheet cake. Attendees enjoyed refreshments and bid on fun local items from around the country. The silent auction raised $1,848 toward the scholarship fund.
On Wednesday, September 10, the conference kicked off with two general sessions. First, NACCED members participated in a panel discussion sponsored by the Cloudburst Group titled The Future of Affordable Housing. A panel comprised of both NACCED members and private enterprise shared real-world success stories on innovative strategies to reduce housing affordability and supply costs. The session highlighted practical ways communities can advance affordable housing despite today’s economic pressures.
Following the opening session, attendees heard a Washington Update from NACCED and National Association of Counties (NACo) staff focused on impacts from 119th Congress legislation, Fiscal Year deadlines and current executive branch activity. The morning breakout sessions included Options for the Development of Homeownership Properties; Hiring, Building and Retaining a Team; and Fair Housing Best Practices.
Wednesday afternoon began with the association’s annual Awards Luncheon and Business Meeting sponsored by Dominium which included a keynote address from George “Mac” McCarthy, President and CEO of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Mac provided attendees an overview of Who Owns America, a groundbreaking platform from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy that tracks land and housing ownership down to the parcel level. This innovative tool equips counties with the data needed to make informed policy decisions that put people and communities first.
During the Awards portion of the event, Maricopa County was honored for their work as conference hosts. Additionally, eight NACCED member counties won Awards of Excellence in a variety of categories related to affordable housing, community development, disaster preparedness and response, economic development, homeless assistance and coordination, program management, innovation, veteran services and assistance.
Winners included Clark County, NV; Cuyahoga County, OH; Fairfax County, VA; Harford County, MD; Kern County, CA; Santa Barbara County, CA; Suffolk County, NY; and Washington County, OR. To see the full descriptive list of awardees click here.
Each year at the Annual Business Meeting, NACCED’s leadership election occurs. This year, outgoing President David Sacks thanked attendees for the opportunity to serve and outlined his year of service leading the association’s priorities around membership and education.
Past President Linda Jenkins (Los Angeles County, CA), Chair of the Nominating Committee, thanked Marcos Ysmael (Pima County, AZ) for his two terms of service. She then announced that Jennifer Daniels (Arlington County, VA) had been nominated to the presidency, Joe Riddle (Pinellas County, FL), to the role of Vice-President, Marcos Ysmael to Secretary/Treasurer and Mary Keating (DuPage County, IL) to NACCED Representative to the NACo Board. Additionally, Nicole Andersen (Orange County, NY), Julie Hamlin (DuPage County, IL) and Paul Herdeg (Cuyahoga County, OH), were nominated to serve second two-year terms on the Board at-large. Former NACCED Community and Economic Development Committee Vice-Chair Rita Reyes-Acosta (Los Angeles County, CA) was nominated to serve a two-year term.
Newly elected president Jennifer Daniels gave her remarks looking forward to the year ahead and continuing the strength of NACCED as a leading voice in local county government partnerships. After calling out the winners of the Passport to win, 2026 conference hosts Sylvia Bolivar and Terry Hickey took the podium to share information about next year’s conference, to be held October 5-8 in Baltimore County, Maryland.
A special conference session titled Davis-Bacon Fundamentals was hosted by LCPtracker to round out afternoon programming. Members utilized this time to learn about the history, key regulations and recent updates to one of the most impactful labor laws in federal contracting
On Wednesday evening, attendees joined together for a conference-wide closing event at Snakes & Lattes, located in the downtown area of Tempe, AZ sponsored by Maricopa County. Members enjoyed food and drink while having the chance to choose from a broad selection of board games to engage in friendly competition.
Thursday morning, September 11, closed the conference with a new spin on the annual tour of local housing and community development projects. This year, attendees were given a tour of the Clayton Buckeye Home Building Facility in Buckeye, AZ. The tour guided members through a 16-station production line to observe the construction of modular units through the use of high-grade materials that meet or exceed site-built construction standards, component building practices and efficiency measures that maximize precision and minimize waste.
NACCED’s annual conferences are not possible without the assistance of our host county. We are thankful to the Maricopa County team for their leadership, expertise and creativeness put into this year’s program. A big shoutout to all our conference sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, members and attendees that made this year’s event the most attended conference in NACCED history. We look forward to seeing everyone in Baltimore County next year!
