Henry Luke- Newsletter  #27 COMMUNITY VISIONING RESULTS January/February 2002

 Saginaw, MICHIGAN-Saginaw County Vision 2020 had their first annual Implementation Town Hall Meeting on March 24, 2002 with over 340 people in attendance.  They had a great year with many successes that were reported by thirteen Alliance or Foundation Chairs.  Highlights included:

·        The comprehensive Land Use Alliance will complete the first countywide land use plan in March 2002.  Thirty-six municipalities are voluntarily helping to develop the plan that will include area for the next ten years of growth required by the Key Benchmarks.

·        The Government Leadership Collaboration Partnership has been meeting on a regular basis and has unanimously agreed to support two infrastructure projects.

·        The High-tech Alliance is concentrating on medical and manufacturing technologies and pursuing the requirements to be a “Michigan Smart Zone.”

·        The Private Sector revitalization and Investment Alliance reported 2001 capital investments of $182 million, which exceeded their annual goal of $100 million.

·        The new Saginaw County Vision 2020 web site was announced at the meeting.  It is innovative and has a unique way to make all minutes available to Vision Partners and Team Minutes.

·        A Private Sector Leadership Alliance has developed a plan to train 1,000 leaders during the next two years.  Gene Perkleman is providing leadership for this effort.  He had worked for many years as a bank employee.  Then he read one of John Maxwell’s books on leadership and determined that he would be an entrepreneur.  He moved to Saginaw last and year and formed “Tri Star Trust Bank”.

·        It is apparent that this very diverse county with 36 municipalities and 210,000 population is developing trust as they communicate and work together.

·        The Key Benchmarks were reviewed and the 208 Vision Partners and nine Alliances will “Review, Revise, and Refocus” their Action Steps for 2002 to create future alignment of all elements of the interdependent Vision 2020.

·        Since the Town Hall Meeting, Garber Management has secured a hockey team that will begin to play in the Saginaw County Event Center in September.  This is a follow-up success to the historic vote on May 8, 2001 for the county to take over and renovate the City Civic Center.  See newsletter #22 May/June 2001 for details.  Also, the farmer owned Michigan Sugar Beet Growers purchased Pioneer Sugar.  This saved 1,600 Saginaw County jobs.  http://www.scv2020.org/

 

MINOT, NORTH DAKOTA-On March 5, Minot will vote in a referendum to provide $2 million per year in additional funding for economic development. http://visioning.minotchamber.org/

 

YAKIMA, WASHINGTON-The Upper Valley Vision had the final Community Meeting for input on the draft Vision document on January 14, 2002.  Over 130 people attended the meeting and 1,500 had previously received presentations for input.  As a result of this input, changes were made and the final document was approved on January 23, 2002.

 

CABARRUS, NORTH CAROLINA- Envision Cabarrus began the process of developing Strategic Alliances for the first six Key Strategies on February 19-22, 2002. http://www.envisioncabarrus.org/

 

ST. JOHNS, FLORIDA-The first St. Johns Vision Community Meeting will be on March 4, 2002. http://www.stjohnsvision.com/

 

BEAUFORT, SOUTH CAROLINA-Henry Luke was the keynote speaker for the Beaufort Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting on January 29, 2002.

 

MONROE, NORTH CAROLINA-Henry Luke was the featured presenter at the North Carolina/South Carolina Vision Coalition meeting on January 31, 2002.  Representative were present from past North Carolina client communities…Ashevillle-1995, Wilkes-1998, Union-1999 and Cabarrus-2001.

 

PAST COMMUNITY VISIONING REPORTS, the Community Strategic Planning Process, and client web sites can be reviewed from the menu below.  Luke Planning, Inc. provides facilitation for Community Vision and Community Strategic Planning. Please forward this newsletter to anyone who may have an interest in these topics.

 

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