SACA is proud to present our speakers for the August 2016 General Membership Meeting
| Simone McFarland |
Matt McLachlan |
| Economic Development Manager |
Community Development Director |
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Simone McFarland
Simone McFarland has more than 25 years of experience in creating business development and marketing programs in both the private and public sectors.
In February 2015, Sierra Vista hired Simone as their economic development manager. Prior to coming to the City, Simone was CEO of Synergie Associates, a Southern California marketing firm. Highly experienced in marketing, communications and economic development, Simone has created and implemented projects for governmental agencies, private agencies and non-profit organizations.
Simone has also served as the economic development manager for the County of San Bernardino, California, (the largest county in the nation) where she assisted in creating and managing the Department of Economic Development. She oversaw revenue enhancement for the County, attracting new businesses and creating tourism marketing programs. In the city of Murrieta, California, Simone acted as the city spokeswoman expanding and improving communication between city residents, the press and city officials. For the City of Riverside, Simone helped to create the City’s first Economic Development Department and was recognized as one of the Top Ten Economic Development Teams in the nation by Site Selection magazine.
Simone has received ten Addy and five CALED awards for marketing. She graduated from the University of California, Riverside, with a Bachelor’s of Science in Administrative Studies.
Matt McLachlan
On July 20, 2015, Matt McLachlan, AICP, was hired as the City's Community Development Director. He is responsible for leading Sierra Vista's planning and zoning, building, and code enforcement divisions and administration of the City’s Community Development Block Grant (CDGB) program. Matt is a certified planner with two decades of experience dealing in comprehensive planning, parks and recreation planning, downtown and neighborhood revitalization, code writing, development review and code inspections. He previously worked for multi-disciplinary engineering firms as a community planning and economic development consultant to local governments throughout Michigan and Florida and served in senior management positions with the City of Bradenton and the City of Safety Harbor, both coastal communities located in the Tampa Bay Region of Florida. Matt holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Northern Michigan University and a Master of Public Administration degree from California State University.
