Web posted
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Cowley 20/20 unveils strategic plan for its future
By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer
Community leaders on recently unveiled a strategic plan for a better future for Cowley County.
The Vision 20/20 Task Force presented a 15-page plan including a broad vision statement and general strategies for achieving it at a recent meeting of the Cowley First economic development partnership group.
Though the community plan is for 2006-2010, it should not expire at the end of that term, a consultant said at the meeting.
"There is no final destination point," said Marla Flentje, senior consultant for The Austin Peters Group, a Kansas consulting firm that specializes in strategic planning and development.
"Community-building is a never-ending project," Flentje said. "But you have done what many communities have not done -- developed a detailed plan."
The document reflects the work of many volunteers in a year-long process.
A Vision 20/20 design team held 15 meetings from May of 2005 through March of this year. More than 160 residents participated in 24 focus groups, and more than 1,700 residents completed opinion surveys.
The plan's vision statement includes 11 separate points that reflect shared community goals for the future.
Among these visionary goals are: to work together to maintain public safety and keep crime rates low; to offer well-paying industrial, manufacturing and service jobs; to nurture and mentor youth to help them form lifelong community ties; to keep neighborhoods and business areas attractive and well-maintained; to preserve natural and historic assets; to provide affordable and suitable housing; good health care; and to welcome people from diverse backgrounds and ethnic groups.
The plan also includes 37 "strategy statements" grouped under five headings -- people, economy, place, health and culture.
"Through the whole process, we tried to reach out to as many people as we could," said Seth Bate, president of the Winfield Area Chamber of Commerce. "In the people focus group, we had people from 15 to 82 years of age participating in writing strategies."
Task force member Erv Knocke said there is a system in place for the plan's implementation: Cowley First. The members who make up the group are civic leaders with the clout to ensure that the plan is taken seriously and that there is follow-up.
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