A group of Elgin residents, serious about improving our community for the future, met last week to share ideas and look at what could lay ahead for Elgin.
Organized by Traci Beckman, she quickly introduced guest facilitator Susan Norris.
Executive Director of Pierce County Economic Development, Norris proved to be a wealth of information for those in attendance for the question-and-answer session.
Key takeaways from the evening include:
• ECAP – Entrepreneurial Community Activation Process. Over the past several years, Norris has presented this program to EVERY community in Madison and Pierce counties. The program utilizes a broad community survey to learn “the good, the bad and the ugly” in terms of community needs. From there, town hall meetings (approx. 4), moderated by University of Nebraska representatives will do a deep dive on those results, form different groups and give clarity to plans of action.
In Plainview alone, this program ignited a tremendous amount of growth.
“The community of Plainview went through it first, six years ago”, Norris told the group. “What happened in Plainview when I started working with them? They had 17 downtown vacant buildings, no new businesses in 10 years, no new housing in over 10 years, and the median age of the community was 48. We went through the ECAP process, and within five years, every single building downtown had been sold. We have now – five years out – 46 new businesses.” According to Norris, Plainview received over $7 million for the grants to make this happen. “We built new housing. We build rental homes, we’ve built town homes, we’ve built single family (homes). We’ve accessed grant funding through the state. We’ve created revolving loan funds that the City manages. We’ve improved all of the parks. The school population has increased. They’ve hired new teachers, so everything’s on track for Plainview. “
After Plainview, the communities of Osmond, Pierce and Battle Creek began the ECAP process as well as Tilden and Clearwater more recently.
….see more at this week’s Elgin Review.
