NEWS & EVENTS

Crookston Vitality Project launching next phase
By Mike Christopherson, Managing Editor
Crookston Daily Times

November 22, 2004 - About a month after its Community Kickoff event at the high school, the Crookston Vitality Project is launching its second phase.

Last Friday, the CVP Steering Committee met with citizens who have agreed to serve as “sector leaders.” Citizens who have signed up to be involved in one or more of the sector group discussions in the coming months will soon be contacted regarding their group’s first session.

“Every single person who was asked to lead a group accepted and attended the meeting Friday, so that’s great,” said Joy Johnson, a member of the CVP Steering Committee. “I think people will be impressed with the sector leaders. Everyone is pretty fired up.”

The Northwest Minnesota Foundation has awarded the CVP a $22,500 grant, part of which will be spent to hire someone to help during the coming phase. Carrie Bang, coordinator of phase one, is moving to Red Wing, Minn. The job description for the new individual is being crafted, Johnson said.

“The person will attend the sector meetings, take minutes, help everyone communicate, gather resources and assist with research,” Johnson explained.

Those who attended the Sept. 27 kickoff event had an opportunity to sign up for sector groups that interested them. People can still sign up by contacting Kari Thompson at the Crookston Development Authority at 281-8054.

The sectors are:

• Education (from early childhood to higher ed and lifelong learning)
• Healthcare and human services
• Economic vitality and community development
• Community leadership and involvement
• Parks, recreation and natural resources
• Public services

With so many initiatives involving public safety and security already underway, City Administrator Aaron Parrish said it’s likely that the public services sector area will be blended into another sector.

It’s likely that some of the sector groups will want to survey the community on issues critical to the decisions they will make. Johnson said that Survey Monkey, an online community research tool, will likely be utilized to gauge public opinion.

The first gathering of each sector group will resemble an orientation, she explained, as everyone determines their job and how they’re going to get their job done.

“The goal of each group will be to develop a vision and a plan for their specific sector area of the community, using what Carrie gathered from her many talks and also what people talked about at the kickoff,” Johnson said. “What will be critical to each group is developing a process that ensures things are structured so that something gets done.”
As for a timeframe, she said the steering committee’s best-case scenario is having all the sector groups wrapping up their work by next summer.

“We would prefer not to lose any momentum over the summer,” Johnson said.