It's hard to believe that three months ago we were all together at the 2006 Annual Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, and that the New Year is already upon us. In that short time span, the NAGDCA Executive Board has held several meetings. The fall meeting at AMR's home headquarters in Lexington, Kentucky was a great opportunity for all of the Board members to come together and plan a course of action for NAGDCA in the upcoming year. That time is also used to orientate new Board Members on NAGDCA's practices and policies.

Briefly, here are some of the goals that came out of that meeting:

1. As an educational leader among governmental defined contribution plans, NAGDCA is dedicated to continuing its efforts in providing up-to-date information to its members through website and clearinghouse postings, listserv blasts, webcasts, legislative updates, and of course, the highly anticipated annual conference. We were extremely excited to offer the continuing education credits for three certifications at the 2006 Annual Conference (CFA, CFP and CPE), and we anticipate this to be an ongoing offering at future conferences.
2. NAGDCA will also continue to work with the United States Congress to pass another Resolution in support of a National Save for Retirement Week in 2007. This year's resolution proved to be a success for many of our members. Many plan sponsors celebrated this week by hosting educational fairs, seminars and special events which provided a tremendous amount of educational opportunities for plan participants. To view some of the activities performed by our members, please visit www.nagdca.org/retirementWeek/members.cfm.
3. The NAGDCA/Arthur N. Caple Foundation is well under way with its fundraising efforts and remains steadfast in its dedication to the following areas of focus:
   • Retirement Education - The Foundation, through the ANC Scholarship, provides higher education students with funding to study financial or retirement planning and to participate in related learning opportunities. Expanding the number of annual recipients and other educational opportunities will be a goal of the Foundation.
   • Research and Information Exchange - The Foundation will be working to identify research and information sharing initiatives that will further retirement education and readiness in the public sector.
4. Lastly, we all know the results of the national elections and anticipate that some change may take place. However, due to NAGDCA's non-partisan position, it will not hinder the relationships that have been established in Washington DC. Susan White, NAGDCA's Legislative Counsel, assures us that we will continue to have a strong voice on Capitol Hill, offering our expertise on the defined contribution community.