Luke Planning: November 2004 Newsletter

Henry Luke- Newsletter #45-COMMUNITY VISIONING RESULTS
November 2004

LUKEVISION- Celebrating 21 years of building Community Vision, we now have links to Visions or Strategic Plans for over 50 communities or regions on our web site, including the communities below. Visit at http://www.lukevision.com/communities.htm

CABARRUS COUNTY, NC-In the last year Cabarrus County lost over 6,000 direct jobs with the closing of Pillowtex and the closing of Corning's fiber optic plant. This was a combination of old and new economy jobs. What do you do when nearly 10% of total jobs are lost? Cabarrus responded in part by:

Immediately trying to help the large number of unemployed with job fairs, retraining opportunities, helping with mortgage debt and encouraging those with lost jobs
Restructured economic development as a public-private partnership with the Cabarrus Chamber of Commerce partnering with Cabarrus County, City of Concord and Kannapolis
Placing a focus on the NASCAR MotorSports industry which has a major presence in the county with high paying jobs
Increased the focus on education and training. On November 2, 2004, voters approved a $94.9 public school bond and a $3.1 million community college bond. NASCAR driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was honorary chairman of the Cabarrus Citizens for Education Committee.

Envision Cabarrus was completed in 2001 and is sponsored by the Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce. http://www.envisioncabarrus.org/Process.html

CURACAO, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES-The Curacao team won the "2004 Little League World Series" title. The Caribbean Team cruised to a 5-2 win over the U.S. Champ at Thousand Oaks, CA. The victory sparked fireworks and a celebration in the capital city of Willenstad, where fans watched on an outdoor big-screen television. Vishon Korsou was completed in 1999. http://www.vishonkorsou.org/Introdukshon/Introduction/introduction.html

Sports Illustrated

DALTON/WHITFIELD, GA-The Carpet Capital completed its Vision, Target Tomorrow in 1996. The Chamber of Commerce continues to provide staff and leadership to the Vision process after eight years. Their 2005 Strategic Goal is "The Dalton-Whitfield Chamber supports the fulfillment of the Community Vision initiative-Target Tomorrow." Recent activities include:

June 22, 2004-a candidate forum to make sure the candidates are familiar with Target Tomorrow, and that they support the community 's Vision.
Awarded Mike Babb, retiring chairman of the Whitfield County Commission the "Vision Partner Award" for his long-term work with Target Tomorrow.
Set-up a speaker's bureau to increase the awareness about the community's Vision. The speakers use a Power Point-"Target Tomorrow-the past, the present and the future". http://www.targettomorrow.com/

JACKSONVILLE, FL-The Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce continued the tradition, since 1979, of Leadership Trips with 143 members visiting San Diego. These trips provide an opportunity of local business and civic leaders to another city to study best practices in a variety of areas. Issues reviewed included San Diego's hosting of the Super Bowl, downtown development, and convention center operations.

First season to bring cruise ships to Jacksonville resulted in 75,000 passengers boarding ships and returning to the Jacksonville port. Projections for 2005 are to double to 150,000 passengers. Cruise ships will also provide rooms and entertainment venues during the Super Bowl in February 2005. Jacksonville Regional Vision was developed in 1983 and 1987.

LAKELAND, FL-Metro Lakeland Vision presented a retrospective report-celebrating five years of Vision Strategy Implementation on August 8, 2004.

Key Strategies of Lakeland Vision were reviewed including:

§        Mentoring for school children-5,647 students were mentored by 2,425 mentors in the school year 2003-2004.
§       County-wide Visioning-Polk Vision was completed August 2, 2004
§        First superintendent selected by the Polk County School Board
§        Racial Harmony Survey-completed 2001 & 2003 and planned for 2005
§        New Poverty Benchmark-for every census track with a poverty rate above the state and national average to move down one category by the 2010 census and a second category by the 2020 census. Categories are 0-10%, 11-20%, 21-30%, etc.

Limited copies of the annual report are available. E-mail mailto:mail@lukevision.com requesting a copy and include your U.S. mailing address.

MINOT, ND-In June 2004, 62 % of voters chose to extend a 1¢ sales tax that pays for infrastructure, economic development, and property tax relief. The tax was set to expire in 2006, but will now be in place until July 2014. In 2003, the tax generated $2.35 million for infrastructure, $1.88 million for economic development and $0.47 million for property tax relief. The Minot-Ward Region Vision was completed in February 1999. http://visioning.minotchamber.org/

MOBILE, AL- Carnival Cruise Lines inaugural cruise from Mobile on October 16, 2004 was a sell-out. The 1,452-cruise ship, the "Holiday" is expected to originate 75 cruises from Mobile in the first year.

The Mobile & Baldwin Vision…renamed to Envision Coastal Alabama, was completed in August 1997. They have over 400 Vision Partners helping with implementation. For the August 2004 quarterly newsletter and Vision Partners list chick here. http://www.mobilechamber.com/envision/Aug04.pdf

NORTH CAROLINA-On November 2, 2004, North Carolina's voters approved a constitutional amendment that authorizes local governments to issue bonds to fund infrastructure and other improvements to certain districts. This is a new tool in North Carolina for economic development. Only one state, Arizona, remains that does not authorize such bond issues.

The Digital-Courier serving Rutherford County

The legislature also created a new incentives program that allowed North Carolina to commit $242.5 million in incentives for a new Dell plant that will create 1,500 direct jobs. Communities in Greensboro, Winston Salem, and High Point, NC areas are now considering local incentives for Dell.

PER CAPITA INCOME By race or ethnicity-click here to access you city or county per capita income by race or ethnicity. http://www.epodunk.com/demographics/index.html Insert your city or county, clink on "search", and then click on "income" at the bottom of the page.

POLK COUNTY, FL-The University of South Florida (USF) announced a land donation agreement on November 22, 2004. The land will be used to create a new 15,000 student, four-year USF Polk County Campus. The first phase of the campus may open for classes by 2009. http://www.lakelandledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041120/NEWS/411200377/1039.

Polk County's public schools had the eight largest increases in the state in its high school graduation rate for the 2003-2004 school year and reached the state average of 71.6% for the first time in memory. Improving the public school system graduation rate is a Key Benchmark for Metro Lakeland Vison-1999 and Polk Vision-2004. http://www.polkvision.com/

In July 2004, five schools in Lake Wales (one of seventeen cities in Polk County) withdrew from the Polk County School District and formed a charter school system. The five schools have 3,500 students and a $24 million budget. http://www.polkvision.com/

Florida Trend

PROCESS MANAGER'S MEETING-On March 31-April 2, 2005 in Cabarrus County, NC, we will have the 3rd annual Meeting of the Process Managers and Executive Directors that are responsible for providing leadership for Vision Projects.

RUTHERFORD COUNTY, NC-A business plan is being developed for the Business and Technology Center. In September 2004, the E-NC Authority and the Rural Center awarded the center to Rutherford County. The award includes $400,000 of operating money when the business plan is approved. Realize Rutherford Executive Director, Kerry Giles, and County Commissioner, Amanda King, are co-chairs of the group developing the business plan. The Realize Rutherford Strategic Plan was developed in 2002. http://www.realizerutherford.com/

The Digital Courier

SPOKANE, WA-Update on Spokane activities:

$1.6 billion invested in the downtown since 1999.
Academic Center ($31.6M and Health Sciences Building ($36 M) added to Riverpoint Campus. New College of Nursing is next ($32 M). The Riverpoint Campus is now part of a 200 acre broader University District that includes Gonzaga University and our two tertiary hospital systems. A $6 million wet lab is being built by SIRTI and $6 million shock physics lab by WSU.
University of Washington agrees to join the Chamber's Higher Education Leadership Group.
Chamber hires Preston Gates & Ellis to represent regional business interests in Washington DC. Took 39 leaders to Washington, D.C. in April and have 10 health care CEOs going June 14-16.
Community passed Convention Center Expansion bonds - $77 M to enlarge exhibition space to 100,000 sq ft. Ground to be broken on July 1.

TUSCALOOSA, AL-On January 27, 2004, Challenge 21 will make a presentation about the progress of Tuscaloosa County since Challenge 21's beginning funding in 1996. http://www.challenge21.org/

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Brain Drain…half of all Federal workers can retire in five years. Will government be able to replace them? http://www.keepmedia.com/pubs/USNewsWorldReport/2004/11/22/649273?extID=10026

November 22, 2004 - US News and World Report

WICHITA, KANSAS-Henry Luke was in Wichita on November 6-10 for meetings including a November 7th discussion with audience input at the public television station KPTS. Over 160,000 copies of the Visioneering Wichita public input draft appeared in the Wichita Eagle on November 7. Students received 5,000 copies of the newspaper that included the draft. A presentation to the Sedgwick County Commission, Wichita City Council and Wichita School System and staff members was made to receive input.

Presentations for input on the draft have been made to 7,000 people and the final community meetings for input were held on November 22-33, 2004. http://www.visioneeringwichita.com/

On November 2, 2004, Sedgwick County citizens voted to fund a $188 million downtown arena. Wichita Eagle columnists, Mark McCormick said the "Arena vote marks rebirth of city's pioneering spirit" and Bob Lutz said, "Voters say it's time to move city forward". http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/special_packages/election2004/10084635.htm http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/sports/columnists/bob_lutz/10084640.htm

YAKIMA, WA-The Yakima City Council approved a 2nd mortgage a loan of $3.56 million to help the owner of the closed downtown mall to transform the southeast corner into a hotel. Downtown merchants and agencies supported the hotel as the beginning of revitalizing the city center. For a Better Tomorrow was completed in 2001 and continues today with leadership from the Steering Committee and Executive Director.

Yakima Herald and Republic

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