Civic Economics Completes Technical Assistance Contract

With this posting, Civic Economics is pleased to report that our work for the CivicARC communities has  come to a formal close. However, we will continue to update the site to report progress in implementation, and look forward to a long relationship with each.  Thanks!

Final Funding Source Reference Book now available

Click HERE to access the final Funding Source Reference Book.  We received some feedback from the November draft, and your suggestions were included in this final document.

ATTENTION ALL TEAM LEADERS!

Please visit your Resource Centers as soon as possible to access the latest documents and updates. We are in the final days of the Technical Assistance process, and are still awaiting feedback from some of you on Action Plans and funding opportunities. Thanks!

Team Okolona Draft Action Plan is Online

Please visit the Okolona Resource Center for the full document.  Password protected.

Team Brownsville Leadership Change

Norma Ryan will serve as the primary contact for Team Brownsville from this point forward. We wish Lou Orslene all the best in his new position at West Virginia University!

FOUR Important Things to Note:

1. Closing workshops are set.  Click below for information.

2. Click here for a Home Stretch Memo from Civic Economics.

3. Click here to review the draft Funding Source Dossier.

4. Draft Action Plans for Brownsville and Nelsonville are posted in the Resource Centers for each.

Mississippi Travel Plans, September 2-5

Dan Houston will be visiting North Mississippi during the week following Labor Day.  See the Resource Centers for Okolona and Sturgis for more information as plans develop.

Northern Trip Report, July 29-August 5

Matt and Dan recently returned from exciting visits to Brownsville and Nelsonville.  Both communities have decided to pursue “targets of opportunity,” projects that are available today and that provide the opportunity for long term growth. See more in the Resource Centers.

Mark your calendars for Brownsville, Nelsonville visits

Team Nelsonville Resource Coordination Meeting held on June 24

Team Nelsonville met on June 24 on the Hocking College campus. The Committee is now chaired by Dr. John Light, President of Hocking College, and Fred Holmes, Nelsonville City Manager. Welcome aboard, Mr. Holmes!

In a surprising development, the reuse of the Dew House as a hotel is no longer on the table.  See the Nelsonville Resource Center for more information.

Mississippi Community Input Report, June 5-13

Dan Houston and Matt Cunningham made an extended visit to Okolona, Sturgis, Tupelo, and Starkville, Mississippi from June 5-13.  In both communities, the project teams have identified the initiative they want to pursue.  In Okolona, we will explore the revitalization and reuse of the historic Okolona College campus. In Sturgis, we will look into the development of a community center facility suitable for youth rodeo.

Thanks to all who met with us on this very productive trip.  Memos summarizing where we are and where we need to go in the coming weeks are posted in the Resource Centers.

Team Nelsonville Resource Coordination Meeting set for June 24

Team Nelsonville will meet on June 24 with Matt Cunningham of Civic Economics, Jen Simon of the Governor’s Office of Appalachia, Boyer Simcox of the Buckeye Hills Development District, and Jeff Doose of the Appalachian Regional Entrepreneurship Initiative.  Tuesday June 26, 1 - 3:30 PM, at the Ramada on the Hocking Campus..

Mark your calendars for Mississippi Community Input, June 5-13

Dan Houston and Matt Cunningham of Civic Economics will be in Mississippi to hear from interested citizens on the following dates:

As itineraries are developed, details will be made available in the Okolona and Sturgis Resource Centers.

Welcome to Okolona and Sturgis, Mississippi

Civic Economics is pleased to welcome Okolona and Sturgis, Mississippi to the CivicARC family of communities.

On May 6, Dan Houston of Civic Economics and Sue Moreland and Kostas Skordas of ARC met with community leaders in Okolona, and with Al Miles of the Mississippi State University extension service. At that meeting it was decided that the Technical Assistance program will work with the community to make plans for the rehabilitation of significant buildings on the historic Okolona College campus. Patsy Gregory, Director of the Okolona Chamber, will continue to lead the steering committee.

On May 7, we met with community leaders in Sturgis.  So many exciting things are happening in this tiny city near Starkville that it will take some time to determine the project to be pursued under the Technical Assistance process.  Mayor Scott Smith will continue to lead the steering committee.

Return visits are tentatively scheduled to take place June 4-13, allowing plenty of time to meet with steering committee members and other interested citizens.

Brownsville shows San Diego how planning is done

The work of Team Brownsville recently appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune as an example to be emulated even in the largest cities. Involving the young in community endeavors was the subject:

Dan Houston says the entropy can be reversed, with a little help from the young. His Austin, Texas, firm, Civic Economics, is helping the Appalachian Regional Commission in the Monongahela Valley in Pennsylvania – hard hit by the economy – create a public planning initiative.

"Early in the process, we became concerned that many adults in the community were all but paralyzed with frustration," Houston reported. "Their children, however, have been a godsend." Several students, with no memory of the Rust Belt economy, "have taken leading roles in the initiative. ... Their presence has significantly altered the tone of our work there, with a decided focus on potential rather than on loss."

Read the full story HERE.

Community meetings draw tremendous participation and project ideas

Civic Economics extends its thanks to all who participated in focus group sessions, one-on-one interviews, tours, and town meetings during the week of February 23-28. In both Nelsonville and Brownsville, turnout exceeded our expectations.  Fully 8% of Brownsville residents attended these events, including nearly 200 at a sometimes raucous Town Meeting.

Visit the Documents page to see the presentations for each community.

Both communities generated a wide range of project ideas, providing your consultants and steering committees with plenty of work in the coming weeks. Thanks are due as well to the diligent reporters from local newspaper, radio, and television outlets.  Below are a few stories from the trip.

Pittsburgh/Greensburg Tribune-Review
Fayette town hopes to end economic woes, March 2, 2003

Uniontown Herald-Standard
Brownsville residents pile into public meeting, March 2, 2003
Students offer insight into Brownsville’s future, March 2, 2003
Commission seeks sustainable prosperity with Brownsville project, March 3, 2003

The Athens News
Nelsonville town meeting airs development plans including movie studio, February 24, 2003

Mark your calendars for one week of community input

Personnel from Civic Economics will return to Nelsonville and Brownsville during the week of February 23-28.  Dan Houston and Matt Cunningham will spend Monday and Tuesday of that week in Nelsonville, and Thursday and Friday in Brownsville. During the visit, we will meet with various community groups and with the steering committees.

Public meetings are tentatively scheduled as follows:

NELSONVILLE - 2 -3:30 PM at Stuart’s Opera House, followed by a media session.
Also be sure to tune to WAIS Radio on Monday morning from 9 - 9:30 AM.
BROWNSVILLE - 7 - 8:30 PM at the Sons of Italy Hall

For information about the schedule of events and to arrange participation, contact Lou Orslene in Brownsville or Judy Sinnott in Nelsonville (see Contacts).

Subregional Workshop held in Athens, Ohio, January 8-9, 2003

Ohio University was the site of a workshop gathering representatives of four Northern Appalachian communities to be served under the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Technical Assistance Program: Brownsville, PA, Nelsonville, OH, Campton, KY, and Jackson County, WV.  These communities were joined by technical assistance consultants from Civic Economics of Austin and Chicago and Terrell Ellis & Associates of Charleston, WV.

The workshop featured informative presentations from Milan Wall of the Heartland Center for Leadership Development in Lincoln, Nebraska. He spoke on subjects dear to the hearts of all involved in Appalachian develoment: Twenty Clues to Rural Community Survival, drawn from the Center’s popular publication, and Group Dynamics.  ARC and state officials addressed the mechanics of the program and the array of resources available through the Commission and the various Local Development Districts.

The highlight of the workshop, though, was the opportunity for the exchange of ideas among the communities represented. Civic Economics looks forward to working with Team Brownsville and Team Nelsonville in this exciting initiative.

Many thanks are due to Kostas Skordas and his colleagues in Washington.  Workshop photos are coming soon!

Should you experience difficulties with this site, please contact info@CivicARC.com.