The ANR I knew when I left on vacation at the beginning of September is radically different from the new ANR that is being shaped upon my return.

Our clients and stakeholders have many questions about our future - communicating clearly in times of change is critical.

The most important thing you can do is simple - keep communicating.

Don't shut down.

Now, more than ever, it's important to keep your Web sites current.

• Is your website up-to-date with changes in office hours, closure dates, and personnel changes?
• Use the talking points about the restructuring as a base for content about our new direction and what it might mean to your clients and stakeholders.
• If you're uncertain about the future - it's OK to say so.  Stay positive, but be honest.
• Is there an important meeting, such as a Board of Supervisors meeting, scheduled at which financial decisions about your UCCE office will be made?  List that meeting on your website. Avoid a direct call-to-action, but let people know that decisions will be made that affect the services they receive.

Our future is still in flux - so keep updating information as it is known.  Honesty and clear communication is key.

On a related note:

Many of you know that Thursday, US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the creation of the new National Institute of Food and Agriculture.  In Secretary Vilsack's prepared remarks he outlined the priorities for this new institute. 

"I want USDA science to focus most of its resources on accomplishing a few, bold outcomes with great power to improve human health and protect our environment:

• USDA science will support our ability to keep American agriculture competitive while ending world hunger. At a time when disruptive climate change threatens production of some of the world's staple foods, some of the biggest gains we can make in ending world hunger will involve development of stress-resistant crops.
• USDA science will support our ability to improve nutrition and end child obesity. At USDA we want to take the nutrition and food choice insights we have gained from our science to test out some new approaches to school lunches, breakfast and our other nutrition assistance and education programs.
• USDA science will support our efforts to radically improve food safety for all Americans. Each year in the U.S. alone, food-borne pathogens like E. coli kill 5,000 people and sicken 75 million more; the cost to the economy from these infections exceeds $35 billion.
• USDA science will secure America's energy future. President Obama has set ambitious but achievable goals for securing America's energy future from new domestic sources, including 60 billion gallons a year from biofuels by 2030. We plan to focus specifically on rapidly improving the amount and quality of plant-based feedstocks that will be the source of biofuels.
• USDA science will make us better stewards of America's environment and natural resources. We believe that research in this priority area will identify agricultural operations in the United States that, within 10 years, will be net carbon sinks."

ANR's initial strategic initiatives:

Sustainable Food Systems (SFS)
Endemic and Invasive Pests and Diseases (EIPD)
Sustainable Natural Ecosystems (SNE)
Water Quality, Quantity and Security (WQQS)
Healthy Families and Communities (HFC)

Pretty darned close if you ask me . . .