Press Release
Instead of crystal balls and Ouiji boards, the group of people involved in the Visioning 2026 project wants area citizens to help chart a plan for Norfolk’s—and Madison County’s—future.
In case you’ve forgotten, Visioning 2026 was created to help Norfolk and Madison County to create a long-range plan that incorporate trends popping up elsewhere in the nation and world.
Included among those getting the Visioning 2026 project off the ground were representatives form the Norfolk Area Chamber of Commerce, City of Norfolk, Northeast Community College, Norfolk Public Schools, Madison County and the Daily News.
The project is being spearheaded by graduates of the chamber’s Leadership Norfolk program, with Jennifer Adams, a chamber staff member, at the helm.
So far, several hundred Madison County residents have offered feedback in focus groups and dialogue group discussions on global trends that might have an impact on Norfolk’s future and ideas that leaders need pursue.
The general topic areas include health care, work force/demographics, technology, energy/transportation, education, recreation and tourism, and economic development.
As part of the Visioning 2026 process, Marv Cetron, a nationally known futurist, has studied Norfolk’s situation and offered some suggestions for opportunities that might be workable in Northeast Nebraska.
Now, Adams said, the group is compiling questions for a survey that it hopes to send in the next few weeks to a portion of Madison County’s population. “We want to have a statistically valid sample,” she said.
Students at Wayne State College are helping them develop the questions and determine who should receive the survey. The students will also help compile the results.
While they want the questions to provide enough information so respondents can provide an educated answer, they don’t want the questions to be leading in nature, Adams said. Which is why they are being careful about what they ask and how they ask it.
Respondents can “rank something a ‘0’ if they don’t know what it is. That will let the committee know what areas the people need to learn more about,” she added.
Once the survey results have been tabulated, the committee plans to compile a report and share it will community leaders, including the city council.
What happens after the report is finished remains to be seen, Adams said.
“Action steps….may come out of that report,” she said.
But she doesn’t expect visioning 2026 to just fade away. In fact, she hopes enough ideas come out of the project that people can “jump on and get involved.”
“We want people to start thinking…and be creative. We need positive energy in that direction,” she said.
- Story Courtesy of the Norfolk Daily News
