|
|
- A county-wide
visioning process to plan for the future of Elkhart County has been taking
shape. The Horizon Project: Today's Vision for a Dynamic
Elkhart County Tomorrow was designed to guide the community through
the creation of a comprehensive vision for it's future community,
economic, and quality of life development activities. The
process included a complete analysis of the general economic climate
of the community supported by community input.
-
- Sponsored by the
Elkhart County Community Foundation, the Horizon Project has been guided
by a steering committee consisting of private, public, and
non-profit sector leaders from throughout the county. The
committee was chaired by William P. Johnson, former CEO of Goshen
Rubber, with Diana Lawson of the Elkhart County Convention and
Visitors Bureau serving as vice-chair. "We're at a
pivotal time in the economic history of Elkhart County to position
it for positive changes," said Johnson. "This
committee is key to facilitating those changes."
-
- The Horizon Project
encompassed several key objectives, including:
-
Conducting
a comprehensive analysis of the demographic, socio-economic, and
land use components of Elkhart County, identification of areas of
competitive advantage and areas of stagnation and decline.
-
Providing
guidance, facilitation, and technical assistance in the creation of
a comprehensive, community-based strategy for community and economic
development.
-
Building
consensus on how the county should approach major issues through
broad based community involvement.
- Beginning in
September, the general public was invited to participate in
community workshops and input sessions to identify key issues
impacting the county's development and overall quality of
life. These sessions called on the community to 1) respond
to and interpret demographic and economic analysis, 2) develop a
comprehensive strategic plan, and 3) commit to implementation of the
plan.
-
- The Ball State University
Center for Economic and Community Development has been leading a
consultant team that included Koehn Consulting of Goshen and Hudson
Institute of Indianapolis.
|
