Citizens-advisory-panel

Priorities Revealed at Annual Meeting

 
A press conference was held yesterday afternoon at the IPFW Alumni Center by the Regional Opportunities Council to reveal the top priorities established for Northeast Indiana to achieve by the year 2020. Media and the general public waited anxiously to hear the long-awaited announcement.
 
Under the leadership of the Regional Opportunities Council, the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership has spent months garnering feedback from citizens across the 10-county region, establishing buy in from regional leadership and benchmarking successful regions across the country. As a result of feedback from the many partners and stakeholders working on Vision 2020, a final slate of priorities, which align with the five pillars, and a regional mission and vision were unveiled.
 
Throughout the Vision 2020 process, we have found that talent is the underlying current that ties the pillars of Vision 2020 together. Without a focus on developing, attracting and retaining talent, none of the five pillars will be successful. As a result, the Regional Opportunities Council voted at their October meeting to officially adopt a regional mission around talent: The mission of Northeast Indiana is to develop, attract and retain talent.
 
With multiple organizations, businesses and individuals moving Vision 2020 forward, maintaining alignment is critical for long-term sustainability. To affirm alignment with the mission, the Regional Opportunities Council also adopted an overarching vision for Northeast Indiana. The vision is for Northeast Indiana to become a top global competitor, exceeding the expectations of businesses and residents.
 
“A unified mission and vision for Northeast Indiana ensures that as we develop strategies within each pillar, we are doing so with focus, continuing to align with our core purpose for years to come. This is not about one organization aligning with these goals; it’s about all of us–education, business and civic leaders alike–agreeing that to be successful, we need to realize the power of speaking with one voice,” said Dr. Jerrilee Mosier, Chancellor of Ivy Tech Northeast and member of the Regional Opportunities Council. She discussed the importance of developing, attracting, and retaining talent in our region at yesterday’s press conference. She mentioned that if we don’t take the time to retain our educated individuals, we are simply educating someone else’s workforce.
 
Top Priorities set for Northeast Indiana
 
As mentioned above, the priorities revealed yesterday are long-term goals that the region will work on collectively to achieve in 2020. All of these priorities have been vetted extensively and have consistently been ranked by participants of Vision 2020 as both difficult to execute and highly desirable based on their potential impact to the region. As a result, the Regional Opportunities Council finds them to be game changers for the future of Northeast Indiana.
 
21st Century Talent
The BIG Goal
The BIG Goal, as set forth by the Lumina Foundation, entails increasing the proportion of Northeast Indiana residents with high-quality degrees and credentials to 60% by 2025. Currently, only 31.5% of residents in the region hold a degree. Reaching this goal will directly impact both the success of our businesses and the per capita income in the region.
 
 
Entrepreneurship
Quick Start
Quick Start is a one year pilot program that provides expert advisory services to accelerate entrepreneurial opportunities and small, high growth companies. It is a partnership of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC), Elevate Ventures, Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership and JumpStart. Quick Start will also coordinate efforts with the Northeast Indiana Innovation Center, Small Business Development Center, SCORE and the LEDO Council.
 
 
Infrastructure
Regional Internet Access
Regional internet access will provide our talent with the tools necessary to access global markets, develop and improve technological skills and improve communication. Considering models such as iMAN in Steuben County, we will work to become one of the most wired regions in the country.
 
Regional Interstate Accessibility
Focusing on regional interstate accessibility will improve access to major transportation corridors. With the limited amount of state and federal resources, we must work collectively to prioritize and advocate for those transportation projects that will transform our regional transportation system. The Regional Chamber of Northeast Indiana’s efforts to bring community leaders together around the I-69 to Roanoke Project is the first significant endeavor towards addressing this priority.
 
 
Competitive Business Climate
Permitting
Streamlining the permitting and zoning processes across the region will create a more business-friendly climate, providing greater efficiencies to support our top industry talent. National research of permitting best practices tell us that successful efforts include the following: improvements driven by customer demand, common environmental interests, which serve as a catalyst for improvements, utilizing technology to make improvements sustainable, and the importance of empowering jurisdictions to lead and own these improvements.
 
Air Service at FWA
Increasing flight frequency as well as non-stop air service options will provide our regional talent with greater access to national and global markets. This ease of mobility will also encourage business and job growth and increase our capability to host major conferences.
 
 
Quality of Life
Downtown Riverfront Development
Riverfront development in downtown Fort Wayne will help create a vibrant and dynamic metro center for the region. Creating strong quality of place and offering increased social and cultural amenities will attract young talent and tourists as well as provide an asset for current residents. It could also align with trails, public transit and other waterways to serve as a catalyst for future developments throughout the region.
 
 
John Sampson, President and CEO of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership said “It shows great strength in our region that we were able to successfully collaborate on developing these priorities. Now we need you, the residents of Northeast Indiana, to help turn these plans into action.”
 
Until next time,
Erica
 

CAP Creative Café

 
On Wednesday, September 28th, the Citizens Advisory Panel (CAP) met for the 2nd time this year at the downtown Allen County Public Library. Their task: discuss and provide feedback on the Top 8 regional priorities as determined by the Regional Opportunities Council (ROC). The Top 8 priorities, each aligning with one of the Vision 2020 pillars, discussed included: 21st Century Talent – The BIG Goal (Increase the proportion of NEI residents with postsecondary education to 60% by 2025); Competitive Business Climate – Permitting and Fort Wayne International Air Service; Entrepreneurship – JumpStart; Infrastructure – Regional Internet Access and Regional Interstate Access; and Quality of Life – Downtown Riverfront Development and a Multifaceted Public Art Program.
 
The meeting was orchestrated by CVC Communications CEO, Marilyn Moran Townsend. She introduced the idea of “Creative Café” where small groups are given 10 minutes to discuss one topic then rotate to the next topic for another 10 minutes and so on and so forth. “This isn’t a typical brainstorm” Townsend said, while introducing the idea of the project to the members of the CAP, “These ideas are going to get deeper and deeper as you circle around.” We had eight projects to discuss, each project occupied two tables making 16 tables; each table had a facilitator of the project or “expert” on the topic and a scribe who took notes during each discussion session, it was quite a scene.
 
The meeting lasted over 2 hours and when all was said and done CAP members were excited and enthusiastic about the night. At the end of the meeting, CAP members were asked to select the top priorities; first, by selecting the priority that they felt was the one that would have the most impact on the region and second, by selecting the priority that they felt would be most difficult, but that we as a region needed to take on none the less. The top three priorities that were selected through this process were: The BIG Goal, Riverfront Development, and Regional Internet Access.
 
Thanks again for everyone who participated in the event. It was a huge success and I think we made a lot of headway with the projects!
 
(Image above: Half of the room discusses the Top 8 priorities in the Creative Café format.)
 
By Erica Hahn – Vision 2020 Project Coordinator
 

A Citizens Advisory Panel Recap

 
We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who participated in the first CAP meeting on Wednesday, April 27th. We were ecstatic with the number of people who braved the rainy weather and gave up their evening to become a part of the Vision 2020 process.

 
The meeting was at the Whitley County Government Center in Columbia City and Brownstone on State provided delicious appetizers. Everyone came ready to help and share their ideas and the noise level in the room quickly rose with so many ideas bouncing from wall to wall.

 
Katy Silliman, Vision 2020 Director, started the meeting by giving an overview of Vision 2020 and its progress to date. This was great background for everyone because those who hadn’t heard of Vision 2020 got up to speed and those who came to the Economic Summit in June got an update on what progress had been made since. Then everyone was split into four small groups and a Vision 2020 leader led each focus group.

 
The focus groups allowed members to get to know each other better and spared everyone from an evening of lecture and PowerPoint. In the focus groups members shared their prior experience with Vision 2020, their motivation for joining the CAP, and what they would like to see come out of the Vision 2020 process.

 
Something that was brought up in every small group is that people want the 10 counties to be more united. They feel barriers exist between each that detract from the ability to create a regional identity. Creating a cohesive community has the potential to make the region stronger and lead to better working relationships.

 
Wow! How impressive that a group of virtual strangers from across the 10 counties can agree that they want to rally together and create a regional identity, while still maintaining the unique qualities of each individual community.

 
We couldn’t have been happier with the discussions and ideas that were presented and the connections being made between members. We’re excited to start preparing for the next meeting and harnessing all of the energy this phenomenal CAP group has generated.

 
Let’s keep the excitement going!

Photo by Jennifer Zartman Romano