Abbotsford News Friday, February 21, 2014
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A bold vision for Abbotsford The Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce is leading the community’s first visioning initiative of its kind Alina KONEVSKI
ABBOTSFORD NEWS
What would make Abbotsford a better place to work, live, and play? That’s the question the Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce and its partners are bringing to the community in the next few months. The chamber is launching a project called Abbotsford 2020 on March 1. The community visioning exercise encourages residents to contribute their thoughts on how Abbotsford should look in the year 2020. The result will be a report that will serve as an anchor for discussion and action during the Nov. 15 municipal elections and the review of the Official Community Plan. “What we’re trying to do with this is bring our community together to figure out what the vision is for Abbotsford by the year 2020,” said chamber president Mike Welte. Welte thinks that the Abbotsford chamber might be the first to launch such a project in western Canada. The local group borrowed the idea from the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, whose Manitoba Bold project became
Mike Welte, President of the Abbotsford Chamber.
widely adopted and the final report was used by the community to hold politicians to account. “What we learned from that project (in Winnipeg) is that there are a lot of people in the community who want to have their
voice heard but don’t necessarily have the forum to do it,” said Welte. “Through projects like this, a lot of community leaders emerge that don’t often have their voice heard. We’re quite excited to bring together a diverse
group in Abbotsford to figure out what the vision would look like for our communities.” The chamber has joined forces with a broad range of stakeholder groups to include as many people as possible into the discus-
sion. Partners include Abbotsford Community Foundation, University of the Fraser Valley, School District No. 34, Fraser Valley Indo-Canadian Business Association, and the Abbotsford News. Residents can participate
in the project in two ways. The first is to visit the official website, www.abbotsford2020.com, which will launch shortly. The site will feature a questionnaire that residents can submit online or print and submit a hard copy to the chamber. The other option is to attend one of the forums. Many of the participating agencies will host their own gatherings, with dates to be announced in the coming months. The Abbotsford Chamber of Commerce will host one for members on March 20. The ideas will be compiled into a final report by September 2014. The cost of Abbotsford 2020 is expected to be minimal, and the chamber is providing all funding. Welte encourages residents to start thinking about their ideas to make Abbotsford the best place to live, work, and play. “For a grassroots project like this to be successful, we need to hear your voice and see your participation in the Abbotsford 2020 project,” said Welte. “The simple question is, ‘What’s your bold idea for Abbotsford?’”
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