Community Conversation Looks To Help Shape County’s Future
November 15, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.
By David [email protected]
In the past the topics have included economic development, quality of life and workforce retention.
“And now we’re talking in Community Conversation 3.0 about – this is where we have been, this is where we are, where do we see our future? And, what are the things we need to do to get there? So kind of a vision casting that’s grounded in some action ideas,” Kosciusko County Community Foundation Executive Director Susie Light said.
Community Conversation 3.0 will be from 7:30 to 10 a.m. Nov. 29 at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center at Grace College. There is no cost to attend and breakfast will be provided, but due to limited seating, RSVPs must be received by Friday. Register at www.kchamber.com/events.
Community Conversation 1 was in June 2010 and it was a public conversation about the critical issues of community and economic development, Light said. The second Conversation was Oct. 30, 2012.
The jumping-off point for the Community Conversations was the PBS documentary series “Hoosiers: The Story about Indiana” about Indiana’s bicentennial, according to Brad Bishop, OrthoWorx executive director. In the last of the segments, “it was about, ‘we’ve seen where Indiana’s been, now where does it need to go in the future?’ So that’s the theme.”
The Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce, Kosciusko County Community Foundation and a group of Kosciusko Leadership Academy cadets will facilitate the conversation.
KLA cadet Vicky Deckers said, “We have taken on Community Conversations as a white paper project. So our team is not only helping to just facilitate the event, we’re going to take the information that our community leaders kind of put forth as ideas for the future and follow up on those: What are we already doing, what has been done and what needs to be done. And see what themes of those rise to the top, and then we’re going to do further investigation and not only report back to this group, but also report back to Indiana Humanities that put together the Indiana Bicentennial series.”
Community Conversation 3.0 is part of a series of Indiana Humanities awarded discussions occurring between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31, 2016, according to a previous provided news release from the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce. Libraries, schools, community centers and other tax-exempt organizations across the state are encouraged to apply to host a public screening and discussion of the film to further conversations on the future of their community and state, the release states. For more information on the program, visit IndianaHumanities.org/filmdiscussion.
Light said, “So we want community leaders, but community members, too.”
Last time, she said, people brand new to the community came to the Community Conversation to just learn more and get to meet people.
“So that was kind of a cool thing, so we want input from a lot of people,” Light said.
Jennifer Kerns, KLA cadet, said, “And it would be awesome to see the future KLA projects branch out of what we find at the event.”
“Getting ideas from people who live here about the future of our county and then taking that information and hopefully planting a seed to get maybe some of those projects turned into reality,” Deckers said.
Those who attend 3.0 do not need to have attended the previous conversations, Bishop said.
As for the format of the event, Deckers said there will be table discussions, showing of parts of the film “Hoosiers: The Story of Indiana: The Next Indiana”?and questions for discussion about each part, concluding with a wrap-up.
“We’ll kind of have a summary sometime after the Conversation, but this KLA project will then be presented at Project Proud in April so there will be a chance for this group to go and present to organizations and share what they’ve learned with community leaders and businesses. It is really a lot longer term project than in the past,” Light said.
Regarding the discussion topics, Bishop, who appears in the Indiana film, said, “A lot of it has to do with the economies of the cities and towns that were featured in the entire series. So the question posed by the series and we’ll discuss is, this has been the economic fabric of the community to date. Is that going to be viable going forward? What needs to happen to ensure that the county can continue to be successful and grow in the future?”
“So what could we do, as a community, aside from orthopedics, to attract high-paying jobs to our community? And then, how do we attract the workforce for high-paying jobs? And what do we have in our community that makes our countywide community an attractive place to live? Work, play?” Light said.
Deckers said the film gives a nice overview of different things happening in the state.
The group wants representatives of all cities and towns, businesses, schools, housing and communities in the county to be a part of the Nov. 29 event. “Countywide net casting,” Light said.
“This is kind of a think-tank morning,” Deckers said. “Let’s throw ideas out there and see what comes together.”
Light said it could only take one person with one spark to make something happen.
“At the last Community Conversation, somebody was sitting at a table and said, ‘I drive on this road every day. Something needs to be done to improve the aesthetic of the road. And that one comment made its way into the plans for Stellar,” Light said.
Deckers said they’re hoping to have 300 people at Community Conversation 3.0.
Sponsors of the Community Conversation are Kosciusko County Community Foundation, Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce, OrthoWorx, Grace College, K21 Foundation, United Way of Kosciusko County and Kosciusko Leadership Academy.
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In the past the topics have included economic development, quality of life and workforce retention.
“And now we’re talking in Community Conversation 3.0 about – this is where we have been, this is where we are, where do we see our future? And, what are the things we need to do to get there? So kind of a vision casting that’s grounded in some action ideas,” Kosciusko County Community Foundation Executive Director Susie Light said.
Community Conversation 3.0 will be from 7:30 to 10 a.m. Nov. 29 at the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center at Grace College. There is no cost to attend and breakfast will be provided, but due to limited seating, RSVPs must be received by Friday. Register at www.kchamber.com/events.
Community Conversation 1 was in June 2010 and it was a public conversation about the critical issues of community and economic development, Light said. The second Conversation was Oct. 30, 2012.
The jumping-off point for the Community Conversations was the PBS documentary series “Hoosiers: The Story about Indiana” about Indiana’s bicentennial, according to Brad Bishop, OrthoWorx executive director. In the last of the segments, “it was about, ‘we’ve seen where Indiana’s been, now where does it need to go in the future?’ So that’s the theme.”
The Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce, Kosciusko County Community Foundation and a group of Kosciusko Leadership Academy cadets will facilitate the conversation.
KLA cadet Vicky Deckers said, “We have taken on Community Conversations as a white paper project. So our team is not only helping to just facilitate the event, we’re going to take the information that our community leaders kind of put forth as ideas for the future and follow up on those: What are we already doing, what has been done and what needs to be done. And see what themes of those rise to the top, and then we’re going to do further investigation and not only report back to this group, but also report back to Indiana Humanities that put together the Indiana Bicentennial series.”
Community Conversation 3.0 is part of a series of Indiana Humanities awarded discussions occurring between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31, 2016, according to a previous provided news release from the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce. Libraries, schools, community centers and other tax-exempt organizations across the state are encouraged to apply to host a public screening and discussion of the film to further conversations on the future of their community and state, the release states. For more information on the program, visit IndianaHumanities.org/filmdiscussion.
Light said, “So we want community leaders, but community members, too.”
Last time, she said, people brand new to the community came to the Community Conversation to just learn more and get to meet people.
“So that was kind of a cool thing, so we want input from a lot of people,” Light said.
Jennifer Kerns, KLA cadet, said, “And it would be awesome to see the future KLA projects branch out of what we find at the event.”
“Getting ideas from people who live here about the future of our county and then taking that information and hopefully planting a seed to get maybe some of those projects turned into reality,” Deckers said.
Those who attend 3.0 do not need to have attended the previous conversations, Bishop said.
As for the format of the event, Deckers said there will be table discussions, showing of parts of the film “Hoosiers: The Story of Indiana: The Next Indiana”?and questions for discussion about each part, concluding with a wrap-up.
“We’ll kind of have a summary sometime after the Conversation, but this KLA project will then be presented at Project Proud in April so there will be a chance for this group to go and present to organizations and share what they’ve learned with community leaders and businesses. It is really a lot longer term project than in the past,” Light said.
Regarding the discussion topics, Bishop, who appears in the Indiana film, said, “A lot of it has to do with the economies of the cities and towns that were featured in the entire series. So the question posed by the series and we’ll discuss is, this has been the economic fabric of the community to date. Is that going to be viable going forward? What needs to happen to ensure that the county can continue to be successful and grow in the future?”
“So what could we do, as a community, aside from orthopedics, to attract high-paying jobs to our community? And then, how do we attract the workforce for high-paying jobs? And what do we have in our community that makes our countywide community an attractive place to live? Work, play?” Light said.
Deckers said the film gives a nice overview of different things happening in the state.
The group wants representatives of all cities and towns, businesses, schools, housing and communities in the county to be a part of the Nov. 29 event. “Countywide net casting,” Light said.
“This is kind of a think-tank morning,” Deckers said. “Let’s throw ideas out there and see what comes together.”
Light said it could only take one person with one spark to make something happen.
“At the last Community Conversation, somebody was sitting at a table and said, ‘I drive on this road every day. Something needs to be done to improve the aesthetic of the road. And that one comment made its way into the plans for Stellar,” Light said.
Deckers said they’re hoping to have 300 people at Community Conversation 3.0.
Sponsors of the Community Conversation are Kosciusko County Community Foundation, Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce, OrthoWorx, Grace College, K21 Foundation, United Way of Kosciusko County and Kosciusko Leadership Academy.
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