We shared a news release last week about our Small Cities, Big Futures benchmarking project, which has gained local, regional, and statewide exposure for Kosciusko County. You can find one example at the link HERE. You can still find a two-page overview of the report at the link HERE. We will release the full report later this week at KEDCo social media (@KosciuskoEDC).
The peer cities benchmarking project provides a roadmap for our community and economic development efforts going forward. Why is this work important? Simply, people vote with their feet about where to live, where to work, and where to spend their free time. The nineteen recommendations are no short-term to-do list. These are a series of long-term investments that will require sustained superior performance from many sectors in our community. To borrow from a few of my favorite sayings:
- Good enough isn’t good enough!
- We will be known for the problems we solve!
- Great things are wanting to be done!
So as you review the nineteen recommendations, how can you contribute to one or more of them? And who else in our community do you know who can contribute to them, as well? Economic development is a team sport and there is so much to do. Yet, we learned from other peer cities that it is easy to overestimate how much we can accomplish in six months and underestimate how much we can achieve in six years!
– Alan Tio
