Board members and staff membeers of the Economic Development Alliance for Jefferson County soon will say goodbye to Rhonda Dishner as Alliance executive assistant-economic development.
She is retiring after a combined 36 years with the organization and its predecessor agencies. Jan. 29 is her last day in the office.
Dishner says that she has enjoyed being a part of the nonprofit economic and community development team since 1985, and that she is proud to have worked with boards over the years that have been instrumental in drawing jobs and economic progress to Jefferson County.
"I also feel privileged to have had the opportunity to work with some of the very best professional economic developers in the state," Dishner said. "They made my work-time less a job and more of a calling."
Dishner's first career spanned 14 years at two weekly newspapers, doing "a little of everything but mostly writing feature stories about local women and editing engagement and wedding announcements."
In January 1985, she was hired as administrative assistant for the dual offices of the Jefferson County Industrial Foundation and Pine Bluff-Jefferson County Port Authority. When those organizations joined with the Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce in 1995 to form the Alliance, she assumed her present responsibilities on the economic development side of the team.
Those earlier-developed editing skills have served Dishner well in her second career. She's long been the Alliance staff go-to writer of news releases, speeches, minutes, reports, grants, etc. That also includes the popular "Economic Development Side" column she wrote weekly for over five years for the Chamber's e-newsletter and that was picked up by the Pine Bluff Commercial.
She's also known among her co-workers, past and present, as a relentless proofreader. They kid among themselves about her red-ink corrections but appreciate that the marks were made simply to make their work even better.
Allison J.H. Thompson, Alliance president and chief executive officer, noted hearing many remarks recently from Alliance board members that Dishner has been a proven asset during her decades supporting efforts of the numerous boards that continue to fall under the Alliance umbrella.
"In fact," Thompson said, "one of our chairmen commented during a recent board meeting that Rhonda has been 'the glue that has kept this organization together as we've moved through different administrations.'"
"Rhonda has been an integral part of the organization for many years, from opening the building in the morning to organizing critical information and a myriad of other tasks," said Thompson. "She gives her work her all and will be missed."
Dishner says she's made no immediate plans for retirement other than catching up on reading a tall stack of new books. She noted that the decision to retire from full-time work came when she realized which birthday she would be celebrating this month.