BEACON Newsletter

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Greetings from BEACON at Salisbury University –

Somewhere in the Cloud!

Face mask. Hand sanitizer. Surface sanitizing wipes. Webcam with light. Studio lights. Spotlight.

These are the standard office equipment and supplies of the COVID era. As the BEACON team continues to telework for most of the time, our offices are well equipped for this new normal. We are now averaging five to six virtual meetings a day. So far, our record stands at eight Zoom meetings in one day. Since we at BEACON help other organizations track their efficiency and effectiveness, it makes sense for us to do the same for ourselves. Here is where we stand: As we learn how to become more efficient, the duration of each meeting is getting shorter and the positive outcomes from each meeting are increasing. We do miss the social aspects of our work so we make time for some social chit chat each day to keep morale up. Now if only we could figure out a way to share Smith Island cake via Zoom for team member birthdays.

Sincerely,

Dr. Memo Diriker, Director

Lower Shore Branding

In collaboration with the economic development directors of Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester counties, the Tri-County Council of the Lower Eastern Shore spearheaded a regional branding strategy in an effort to better market the value of the Lower Eastern Shore to prospective residents and businesses. As part of this effort, BEACON conducted a series of opinion leader surveys in each of the three counties. The intent of the surveys was to gain a better understanding of opinion leaders’ viewpoints regarding their respective counties, including overall perceptions of the county, aspects of the county that are appealing to potential residents, the future of the county, areas for improvement and so forth.

The New Normal!

The Wellness Made Easy Initiative

Wellness Made Easy is a health literacy initiative made possible by the collaboration of the United Way of the Eastern Shore, Peninsula Regional Health System, Wicomico Public Libraries and BEACON at Salisbury University. As part of the Wellness Made Easy Campaign, BEACON worked with partners to develop several training manuals to be used in educating community members about health care and how to live a healthy and active lifestyle. These manuals also serve as a resource for connecting people to regional information and services that they may not have known about otherwise. The manuals already have been distributed to local libraries and partners and will be used as tools for teaching the local community about the importance of health literacy. Increased and improved health literacy has significant positive impacts on individuals and on the community as a whole. Soon, a new Wellness Made Easy website will be launched that will compile a wide range of regional resources and information on health literacy events and initiatives in our area. Please visit the BEACON website in the near future for a link to the new Wellness Made Easy website.

Employee Spotlight: Dr. Sarah Guy

Dr. Sarah Guy is the associate director of BEACON at Salisbury. Born and raised in Maryland, Sarah attended Salisbury University for both of her bachelors’ degrees in marketing and management with a minor in finance, as well as her Master of Business Administration. During her time as an undergraduate, Sarah completed her ABLE internship requirement at BEACON. After completing her internship, she stayed with the BEACON team and worked her way up to project manager. After completing her M.B.A., Sarah accepted a full-time position as the economic development / transportation planner for GeoDASH, a joint initiative of BEACON and SU's Eastern Shore Regional GIS Cooperative..

Following the completion of that grant-funded project, Sarah took on the role of assistant director of BEACON and was later promoted to associate director. During her tenure with BEACON, she also completed her Ph.D. in organizational leadership at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. She has been serving the community through her work at BEACON for over 13 years now.

Throughout her time at BEACON, Sarah has become the team lead on economic impact analyses, scenario analyses and many strategic plans. She leads a team of 10-12 undergraduate and graduate research assistants on an average of 30 projects per year, serving clients throughout the state and the mid-Atlantic region. In addition to helping BEACON clients with their data and research needs, Sarah focuses on providing BEACON’s student team members with experiential learning opportunities that will enhance their professional development and future career opportunities.

Sarah is a graduate of Leadership Maryland, Class of 2016, and Shore Leadership, Class of 2019. She is a past chair of the board for Junior Achievement of the Eastern Shore. In addition, she serves on the Perdue School of Business Career Advisory Board and the Salisbury Sunrise Rotary Club. Sarah was selected as Salisbury Sunrise Rotarian of the Year for 2015-2016, the winner of the Daily Record’s 20 in Their Twenties Award (2014), and the winner of the Daily Record’s Leading Women Award (2018) and Top 100 Women Award (2020).

Contact Information

1101 Camden Ave.

Perdue Hall, Suite 100

Salisbury, MD 21801

410-546-6001

beacon@salisbury.edu

SU is an Equal Opportunity/AA/Title IX university and provides reasonable accommodation given sufficient notice to the University office or staff sponsoring the event or program. For more information regarding SU’s policies and procedures, please visit www.salisbury.edu/equity .

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