Hardin County, Kentucky Vision Project
Hardin County, Kentucky Vision Project
L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC was retained by Hardin County Government in 2009 for the purpose of conducting a visioning project for the fast-growing county. The County is being positively impacted by the base realignment at Fort Knox, which when fully implemented in September 2011 will result in a net gain of nearly 8,000 high-paying jobs and a population increase of between 12,000 and 15,000 people - the largest economic development project in Kentucky's history. The impact on the County will be enormous.
(Note: scroll down to see a complete history of this project, with links to a detailed project summary, community forum presentation video, press releases and local newspaper articles).
The process resulted in the establishment of 24 strategic goals for the next 15 years which touch upon government, education, community development and quality of life. Following the completion of the project, a new organization, Hardin County United, was formed for the purpose of examining each of the 24 strategic goals and developing an implementation strategy.
Hardin County Vision Project Summary
Please click on this link in order to download the Hardin County Vision Project Summary. The summary includes a description of the project's methodology, a review of the benchmark counties analysis, findings from the key stakeholder survey (which included 70 community leaders) and a list of the 24 strategic goals which were adopted for the next 15 years.
Hardin County Community Forum Video
The Hardin County Vision Project's findings were presented to the community during a forum which was held at the Hardin County Performing Arts Center on April 29, 2010 in Elizabethtown. Please click on this link in order to view the video of the presentation given by Hardin County Judge/Executive Harry Berry and L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC President Luke Schmidt.
Media Reports
The (Elizabethtown) News-Enterprise has reported extensively on the Hardin County Vision Project. Following are links to articles (in chronological order) which announce the project's completion, detailed analysis of the findings, a couple of editorials and a guest column written by L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC President Luke Schmidt:
Vision project develops consensus on change (April 2, 2010)
Editorial: shaping the vision (April 4, 2010)
Three vision goals call for unification (April 4, 2010)
Vision project: the process (April 4, 2010)
Five county comparison (April 4, 2010)
You are invited to make a difference (April 28, 2010)
Public input sought at vision forum (April 29, 2010)
Public gives feedback on vision project (April 30, 2010)
Exploring a vision means keeping an eye on unity (April 30, 2010)
Hardin County United
The first official action taken as follow-up to the Hardin County Vision Project was the development of Hardin County United (HCU).
HCU is an ad-hoc group which was established to formally examine the goals which were established during the Vision Project. HCU includes a Steering Committee comprised of 58 community leaders (including elected officials, business and industry leaders, school superintendents, etc.) and three subcommittees: Community Development, Education and Governance. Please click on this link to read the press release announcing the formation of Hardin County United.
L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC President Luke Schmidt provides management and consulting services to Hardin County United.
