ATLANTA, GA-In March 1999, the State of Georgia created the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA). The super agency will deal with traffic, smog and sprawl in Metropolitan Atlanta. GRTA will have control of highway construction, mass transit and large project land use. This is a major step for Metro Atlanta in response to negative publicity about traffic gridlock and the potential lost of $1 billion in federal highway money over the next five years. Visit www.governing.com for the May 1999 issue of Governing Magazine for a detailed article on the creation of GRTA.

ASHEVILLE, NC-The Vision for Asheville-Buncombe County released the first edition of their Benchmark Series. There are 49 benchmarks in ten areas including Civic Participation, economic Development, Education, Environmental, Equal Opportunity, Family, Health, Infrastructure, Public safety, and Quality of Life. 

MEMPHIS, TN-News from MEMPHIS 2005

• Memphis is a finalist in this years "All American City" competition, MEMPHIS 2005 was one of three elements in the Memphis proposal. 

• The Managing Automation March 1999 cover story highlights the Southwestern Tennessee partnership. The Partnership is a part of MEMPHIS 2005 Workforce Development Initiative. The article can be accessed at www.managingautomation.com.

• Memphis MSA ranked 8^th in the US among MSAs in percentage growth in non-farm employment Jan-Feb 98 to Jan-Feb 99. MEMPHIS 2005 attributed this growth to the record capital investments of $2.4 billion in the last two years and the Workforce Development Initiative.

RAPID CITY, SD-"Forging Our Future" April 1999 newsletter stated that 118 of the 260 Vision Partners have adopted a strategy.

DALTON, GA-Dalton is developing a Complete Count Committee to insure an accurate count for the 2000 census. An accurate count is likely to give Dalton the coveted MSA designation.

HARRISBURG, PA-The Capital Region sent 66 people to visit Richmond, VA on May 6-7, 1999. The visit developed energy, enthusiasm and discussion as they listened to the presentations from Richmond leaders.

MINOT, ND-The Minot Public School System has recently been listed with 90 other schools from across the nation in recognition for their programming and implementation of the fine arts with their curriculum. 

CURACAO, NETHERLAND ANTILLES-The Vision process is working in the 150,000-population island in the Netherlands Antilles. The island is in the Southern Caribbean north of Venezuela. We interviewed 111 people in Gruponan Di Enfoke (Focus Groups) on May 10-12 and had over 300 attending the Kumbre Gruponan der Seshon (Stakeholders Summit) on May 12.

SCHUYLKILL, PA-Schuylkill wasted no time using the new Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ) as Office Max announced a $47.5 million, 350-job distribution center on May 13, 1999. The 600,00 square foot center will be forgiven state and local taxes for 12 years as a part of KOZ. In a related development, Lowe's opened a 1.2 million square foot distribution center in Schuylkill this spring that will employ 500 people by the end of the year. 

HAMPTON ROADS, VA-The Hampton Roads 1999 inter-regional visit will be to Salt Lake City on October 23-26. The focus will be technology-based economic development and secondarily workforce development and infrastructure development. This is a good choice as Salt Lake City has just landed the Intel R & D headquarters, projected eventually to be 8,000 employees.

BAY COUNTY, FL-Panama City Beach is trying to become more family-friendly including a ban on new business dealing in sexual products, body piercing or tattooing on streets most used by tourists. Restrictions on portable signs and banners have had a visible impact, but in addition, people are starting to take more pride in their properties. A $21.5 million beach re-nourishment project has also helped to create a wider sugar-white beach. This process began as the Bay Vision entered the Implementation Phase in 1997. (Information from Associated Press-April 18, 1999)

RICHMOND, VA-The Richmond inter-city visit April 22-24, with 88 participants was a train trip to Washington, DC's Union Station, Baltimore's Inner harbor, and Philadelphia's 30^th Street Station. The trip focused on high-speed rail service, train station renovation, waterfront development and convention center expansion. Other news:

• To prepare for the immediate years ahead, the Regional Transportation Advocacy Board of the greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce, in consultation with local governments, developed a coordinated group of seven top-priority projects. These seven projects will help create: 1) $4.5 billion in additional annual Gross Regional Product, 2) an 834-ton annual reduction in vehicle emissions, 3) 157,000 new jobs, 4) savings of three million hours in commuting time, 5) savings of million of gallons of fuel annually.

• The Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce is raising $7.8 million in private sector funding for regional economic development programs over the next five years. Four governments will fund $7.3 million to make a total of $15.1 million. This is a 25% increase over the 1994 campaign. This may be the best-funded economic development program per capita in the US. 

• With over 8,000 employees at the end of 1999, Capital One is likely to pass three companies and become the largest private employer in Greater Richmond this year. The eighth largest US issuer of Visa and MasterCard credit cards, Capital One is adding 20,000 accounts a day.

JACKSONVILLE, FL-Jacksonville will visit Denver for its annual city visit in October.

THE INTERNET and E-MAIL- I recently realized that we are communicating almost exclusively by e-mail or telephone with our two newest clients Curacao, Netherland Antilles and Union County, North Carolina. With Minot, North Dakota; Lakeland, Florida; and Wilkes, North Carolina entering the Implementation Phase, we have been e-mailing large power point presentations back and forth for review and fine tuning. Before, we would have used overnight express and transmitted everything by paper. Also, Curacao found out about us by surfing the web and finding our web site. It was September, 1998 when we opened www.lukevison.com and began e-mailing a few of you to discuss your Implementation Process. Now over 100 people are on our e-mail list. After these nine months, we are beginning to understand the power of the internet and believe that communities who use its power have a competitive advantage. Thank you for sending information that enhances the Vision Process and describes progress in you communities.

Henry Luke

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