Getting a voice

Independence County asks for input from citizens

Lyon College President Don Weatherman, from left, University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville Chancellor Debbie Frazier and Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Crystal Johnson promote the July 1 community meeting at the launch of Impact Independence County, a countywide strategic plan that hinges on the input of the community.
Lyon College President Don Weatherman, from left, University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville Chancellor Debbie Frazier and Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Crystal Johnson promote the July 1 community meeting at the launch of Impact Independence County, a countywide strategic plan that hinges on the input of the community.

Leaders in Independence County are preparing to make strides in economic development and strategic planning, but they do not want decisions to be made solely by politicians, business owners and other people who already have influence.

Instead, with the recent launch of Impact Independence County, regular citizens are going to be the ones sharing their visions and pushing toward positive change across the county.

Impact Independence County is a countywide strategic plan that calls on residents to pinpoint the county’s needs and create a plan to meet those needs. The initiative was launched by the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce, Lyon College and the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville.

“This is a project that has the possibility to bring Independence County to move forward, to have a great impact,” said Deborah Frazier, chancellor for UACCB. “I said, ‘We’ve had strategic plans before. What happened with them?’ I was told that this would be unique in that it would be a countywide community plan. When you talk about encompassing and engaging the county, my ears perked up. I think that’s a wonderful opportunity. I, at UACCB, can see clearly what can happen when you bring a community of people together. It’s a tremendous thing.”

The idea for a new strategic plan started with the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce, Frazier said. The emphasis is going to be on what the community decides it needs. Lyon College President Don Weatherman said that this is not going to be like other plans that are forced on the community, but instead, it is going to be community driven.

“If you look at how different areas do strategic plans, a lot of them will start with a small group of people that decide on what the

community needs, and then they go out and try to get people interested in it,” Weatherman said. “We’re not going to do it that way. This is a community-based effort. … We need to have everyone in this community involved in this.”

Impact Independence County is going to focus on six areas: education, health care, leadership, economic development, tourism and housing.

Community members will have opportunities to give input on each of these areas through surveys that will be collected between July 1 and Aug. 30.

A community meeting will be held at 6 p.m. July 1 in Independence Hall at UACCB to start the distribution of the surveys. Child care will be provided for the meeting, which will be followed by a community picnic.

“The governor is our keynote speaker, but this is very casual,” said Crystal Johnson, president and CEO of the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce. “This isn’t men in suits on the stage. This is a community meeting talking about our community and our needs. Please bring everyone you can to the meeting. I’m hoping to have 500 people there.”

In addition to the community meeting, kiosks will be set up around the county so that residents who cannot make it to the meeting will still have an opportunity to fill out a survey. The survey will also be available online.

Survey results will be made public by Sept. 1, and at that time, subcommittees will be formed to start looking into the main areas of concern or potential improvement.

Impact Independence County is being primarily funded by the Batesville/Independence County Economic Development Foundation, but donations are also being accepted.

For more information, including surveys, an opportunity to donate and community meeting dates and times, visit www.impactindependencecounty.com.

Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansasonline.com.

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