Stakeholder Input » In Your Words - VisionFirst hosted nearly 40 stakeholder meetings over several days with more than 50 elected officials, existing business leaders, small businesses and community members.
“ WE NEED TO STOP COMPARING OURSELVES TO OTHERS DELTA COMMUNITIES. Conversations with the professional staff members allowed VisionFirst to gain a better understanding of current operations, programs, products and services as well as some of the challenges faced due to macro-economic trends and local issues especially as the nation and community begin to recover and reopen from the COVID-19 pandemic. Meetings with business and community leadership and stakeholders allowed VisionFirst to gain insights through the lens of each groups’ focus and how the Chamber and its economic development team can find long-term success. All the stakeholder meetings produced productive dialogue about the county’s future, identifying both critical issues and vital opportunities. During the planning sessions, VisionFirst sought answers to questions centered on such topics as: •
What is the definition of economic development for Bolivar County?
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Who is the Chamber’s internal and external customers?
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What are the barriers to success?
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Who are the partners for the county’s economic development efforts?
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What belongs to the Chamber?
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What is the community’s unique story? How can the Chamber leverage assets to grow the economy?
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What does success look like for the Chamber?
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How will the organization measure success?
Key findings from the meetings are presented in aggregate on the following pages and have been grouped by the main themes that resulted from the stakeholder conversations. Although the meetings focused on the Chamber and its role in leading local economic development, the discussion also covered the needs in the broader community. While outside the direct purview of the Chamber, these issues are vital to the county’s overall competitiveness. The comments listed are a sampling of the meeting outcomes from local leaders and do not reflect VisionFirst’s opinion.
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