HARRISBURG, PA-The Harrisburg Regional Chamber will lead a city visit to Louisville, KY on May 11^th-12^th . This is their second annual city visit in response to an Envision Strategy.

DALTON, GA-All of the major employers have signed a commitment to Education Pledge that should help to improve the graduation rate and the graduate quality. The employers pledge and committed to:

Establish systems in the external hiring and internal promotion processes which will place an emphasis on education. We will not hire anyone under the age of 18 except on a part-time basis or through a Work-Based Learning Program approved by the Georgia State Board of Education.

Require at least a high school diploma or GED for all future management and supervisory promotions and placements.

Provide opportunities for continuing education such as on-site GED classes, tuition reimbursement and skill training.

Establish policies and practices that will encourage and allow our employees to get involved in their child’s education and academic performance.

Provide opportunities for educators to come into our place of business to learn about our jobs, our employees and our company.

Participate as a company and encourage management involvement in our local schools through programs such as Business-Education Partnerships, the Buddy Programs and Speaker’s Bureau.

MINOT, ND-Nearly 100 "Visioning for our Future" supporters attended a Town Hall meeting on March 23^rd to celebrate the first year of Collaborative Implementation. There are now eleven Alliances in place for individual strategies.

RAPID CITY, SD-"Frontiers, Forging our Future" had its 2^nd annual series of Town Meetings throughout the Black Hills. From March 17^th through April 5^th, there were five meetings in the region with four more planned. The Black Hills Vision now has 270 Vision Partners and the meetings are a way to ensure accountability and receive input.

BLACKSBURG, VA-About 1200 people toured the "Smart Road" project on March 23^rd. The 1.7 mile $32.7 million project under construction has 400 built-in sensors, special lighting, weather making equipment and other testing devices. The six-mile project could cost up to $108 million when completed in 2008. Research money and spin-off businesses are expected to draw $400 million over the next twenty years. The "Smart Road" was one of the priority projects for the Blacksburg-Roanoke Vision in 1994.

RICHMOND, VA-The Richmond City visit is to Columbus, Ohio on April 30^th -May 2^nd. They want to visit another state capital to see how they harmonize local, state and federal interest. Eighty-six people have committed to the visit.

SCHUYLKILL, PA-Schuylkill County Vision celebrated its 2^nd year of Collaborative Implementation with a Town Hall meeting on March 30^th. Vision released its first audit on March 31^st. Income for 1999 was $108, 445 with $50,000 from the county and the remainder from other sources. On April 14^th, the Vision had a Fantasy Night Auction of over 100 fantasies. The proceeds all are for the benefit of the Vision.

GWINNETT, GA-The new Gwinnett University Center is to open in August 2002. The new campus will accommodate 15,000 students. The new CEO, Jim Muyskens said, "What’s exciting to me about the new technology that is the hallmark of our campus is its interactivity." From the beginning, planners worked with the premise: suppose you could start over, what would you build?

CONYERS/ROCKDALE, GA-Dean Alford is the Chair of CR Future, the Vision for Rockdale County-our most recent Vision project. Dean was the leader of a Rotary drive to raise over $750,000 for a baseball diamond for disabled children. The field opened on April 16^th with 134 disabled children playing. The field is flat and has Astroturf so that wheelchairs can move freely. The dugouts, clubhouse and restrooms are all wheel chair accessible.

BEA ANNUAL UPDATE-The Bureau of Economic Analysis is scheduled to release the annual update of per capita income and related data by county and MSA on June 15^th. www.bea.doc.gov

COMMUNITY VISIONING RESOURCES -Our web page now has a resource page with links to the BEA web page for per capita income and the Census Bureau for poverty rates by county. There are other links and more to come.

Past Collaborative Implementation Reports (Newsletter) beginning with January 1999 can be reviewed by choosing one of the links below.

Henry Luke

  to view the PDF format, you will need this free download from Adobe if you do not already have it.

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