Dave Duval took over as President of the Quechee Lakes Landowners Association (QLLA) Board of Trustees in July 2014 with plenty of relevant experience and lots of enthusiasm. He has been a QLLA Trustee since 2012 and was named vice president in July 2013. He served on the Nominating, Golf Revenue, Pool Financing, Marketing and Community Affairs Committees and as Board liaison to the Golf and Greens Committees.

As Duval explains, he is a “planner by nature” with a strong background in finance and management. Following more than 20 years in venture capital helping young companies get off the ground and grow, he is now in wealth management—assisting clients to plan for and manage finances—as Managing Director with Boston Financial Management.

Duval and wife Liz grew up near Boston, met in junior high school, married after college and had three children, Dan, Krista and Kara. They first visited Quechee in 1986, kept coming back and bought a condo in 2000.

The kids learned how to ski—and the family loved everything about the weekends and vacations they spent in Quechee. In 2011, they purchased a house on Main Street and are now full-time residents The “kids” (now adults in Texas, Illinois and New York) really wanted to see their parents settled in Quechee—how could there be a better option? Two of them are planning to move back to the Northeast to be closer to family and Quechee—their “real home.” One of the most important family members, Rory a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, is only at home in Quechee!

In his leisure time, Duval likes to golf, ski and hike. He is a serious Boston sports team fan (Go Sox and Patriots!) and enjoys Texas Christian University football (Go Horned Frogs!). He also serves as a Director and Treasurer for Rostro de Cristo, a Catholic charity that provides spiritual and educational opportunities for the people of Ecuador. They support Ecuadorians to meet basic human needs in their developing communities with core values of justice and service to others. Duval has spent time on the ground in Ecuador and will head there again this year for the 25th anniversary of the organization.

Duval is passionate about utilizing his skills to help to advance organizations and people. With more time, the Quechee “bug” and the desire to make a contribution, he decided to share his skills with QLLA. There is always room for improvement and Duval likes to “leave things better than he found them.”

So far, through his work with QLLA committees he has helped to bring Walt Cunningham and the first annual Music Fest to Quechee, to create the Quechee Collegiate Challenge with Division 1 golf teams, organize new debt financing and develop an Institutional Plan along with QLLA member Ted York. Duval introduced a new approach to QLLA’s financial planning and took a leadership role in the development and implementation of a meaningful survey of the membership.

Duval’s vision of Quechee is a “vibrant community of active, multi-generational families who enjoy all the amenities and natural beauty that Quechee offers.” He sees a need to “do a better job with new member orientation, articulating the QLLA value proposition and increasing the effectiveness of marketing activities.”

Planning for the Future

During his first six months as President, the focus has been to bring all Trustees to a common level of knowledge about QLLA and the management challenges which it faces. Board members have participated in orientation sessions in the areas of finance, legal, developer relationship, campus, management and institutional planning. He has worked with the Finance Committee and management to develop a “dashboard” of key metrics for financial reports for improved understanding and trending of important elements. As he says, “It is important that the Board continually find new ways to assess QLLA finances and work toward the creation of our long-term master financial plan.”

We know that people often decide to come to Quechee at the recommendation of those who already live here. Duval likes to showcase golf as a way to get new folks to come. Duval encourages everyone who is interested to attend QLLA Board meetings and to share their skills to make Quechee an always better and wonderful place to live and play!