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Community Visioning Projects

August 2, 2013 By Luke Schmidt

Hardin County (KY) United

Hardin County Logo 012611

 Introduction

Hardin County United (HCU) was formed following the conclusion of the Hardin County Vision Project in 2010.  HCU was formed by several community leaders that participated in the vision project and who wanted to continue with the process.  HCU was formed primarily to address each of the 24 strategic goals which were adopted in the visioning process, assign a priority to each goal and develop an implementation strategy for each of the goals selected for implementation.  L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC followed-up its involvement with the vision project by providing management and consulting services to HCU.

Organization Structure

HCU started with a Steering Committee comprised of around 60 people.  The organization was further organized with three subcommittees: Community Development, Education and Governance.

Catalyst for Change

Early on, Luke Schmidt worked with the HCU Steering Committee and developed a logo and a web site, so that the organization would have a central theme and also a portal for information on its projects to be made available to all citizens.

HCCC LogoSince its inception, HCU has served as an agent for change.  Following-up on the overall vision project theme of unification and the elimination of duplication in the community, HCU Community Development Subcommittee members supported the merger of four previously existing chambers of commerce (Elizabethtown, Radcliff, Vine Grove and West Point) into one new unified chamber – the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce – now one of the five largest chambers in Kentucky.

Community Development Subcommittee members also supported change in the community’s alcoholic beverage laws.

YES Logo

Three petitions were filed in Elizabethtown, Radcliff and Vine Grove (the county’s three largest cities) for local option elections to be held on the same date.  Each campaign called for each community to go “wet,” meaning that individuals would gain the opportunity to purchase alcoholic beverages either by the package or by the drink.

HCU was one of the first organizations to endorse each campaign.

Each campaign was successful, thereby achieving one of the primary goals of the 24 strategic goals which were established during the Hardin County Vision Project.

The Education Subcommittee developed and implemented the first-ever mapping campaign of all educational offerings in the community

ECC Sign

The goal of this project was to identify every educational offering currently available to all residents in Hardin County.  The process started with pre-natal care classes for expectant parents, continued with early childcare development, Kindergarten, K – 8, high school and post-secondary offerings.

The report provided by the Education Subcommittee will be used by economic development professionals as part of their pitch to business and industrial prospects who are interested in expanding to the community.

Early College & Career CenterThe Education Subcommittee also embraced the idea of an Area Technology Center (one of the vision project’s 24 strategic goals).  Early in 2013, a partnership consisting of the Central Kentucky Community Foundation, Elizabethtown Community & Technical College, Hardin County Schools and Western Kentucky University announced the development of the new Early College & Career Center, which will be located adjacent to the ECTC campus and open for business in 2014.

HCU’s Governance Subcommittee launched an initiative first designed to look into the potential benefits of unified government in Hardin County (again, following-up on the overall unification theme from the visioning process) with its Hardin County Unified Government Project.

HCU Unified Government Brochure

L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC was retained to conduct extensive research into unified government.  This included site visits to communities that had previously unified, interviews with key groups, an analysis of existing local government structures in Hardin County, etc.

HCU presented the findings of the research project to the community with a series of 24 forums around the county.  HCU worked with Members of the Kentucky General Assembly to strengthen the existing statute on unified government in the Commonwealth.  HCU also started preliminary work with local elected officials to establish a Unification Review Commission for the purpose of drafting a plan for unified government to be presented to citizens for review and approval.

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Filed Under: 2013, Community Visioning Projects, Consolidated (Metro) Community Government Projects, Economic Development Projects, Projects, Stra Plan

July 29, 2013 By admin

Hardin County (KY) Community Visioning Project

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Introduction

In 2009, Hardin County, KY (located in the Elizabethtown – Fort Knox Metropolitan Statistical Area) found itself in the middle of a major expansion of Fort Knox – one of the United States Army’s largest posts – with growth in jobs (approximately 12,000 net new direct and indirect jobs), along with an expected increase in population of between 12,000 and 15,000 people.  Base realignment (commonly referred to as BRAC) at Fort Knox resulted in the largest economic development project in Kentucky’s history (larger than the initial investments by Toyota in Georgetown and UPS at Louisville International Airport).  The impact on Hardin County has been enormous.

Fort Knox Entrance SignIn order to capitalize on this once in a lifetime opportunity, under the leadership of Hardin County Judge/Executive Harry L. Berry, Hardin County Government commissioned a visioning project for the purpose of building upon the positive momentum created by BRAC.  The project was designed to build upon Hardin County’s strengths and current growth opportunities, identify weaknesses, maximize efficiencies and establish strategic community goals.

L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC was retained to conduct the project on behalf of Hardin County Government and in partnership with the Lincoln Trail Area Development District and the United States Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment.

Project Scope 

The project’s methodology included a community strategic assessment (which included analysis of previously conducted studies and interviews with key groups and organizations).  Also included in the community assessment was a 30 page confidential key stakeholder survey which was sent to over 100 community leaders representing the agriculture, business, education, government, health care, industrial, military and tourism sectors, and, two community leadership forums.

The project also analyzed benchmark (or peer) counties through research, site visits and meetings with leaders in each community that align with Hardin County demographically in order to determine how these counties approach various issues, such as community and economic development.  The benchmark counties included:

  • Daviess County, Kentucky (Owensboro area)
  • Lee County, Mississippi (Tupelo area)
  • Lowndes County, Mississippi (Columbus area)
  • Montgomery County, Tennessee (Clarksville area)
  • Warren County, Kentucky (Bowling Green area)

The key stakeholder surveys generated a 73% response rate which provided an accurate snapshot of attitudes and opinions on various key issues.  The survey covered the following areas:

  • HMH PhotoMedia
  • Education
  • Arts/Cultural Issues
  • Quality of Life/Quality of Place
  • Downtown Elizabethtown
  • Economic Development
  • Community Competitiveness with Other Communities
  • Fort Knox
  • Conference/Convention Facilities
  • Health Care
  • Transportation
  • Community Position (Standing/Stature in Frankfort and Washington, D.C.)
  • Government/The Big Picture

Community leaders participating in the vision process and through the key stakeholder surveys in Hardin County easily reached consensus on a number of broad areas, including:

  • Strong support for education at all levels
  • A desire to unify the community in order to leverage its size to improve the efficiency of the delivery of services
  • A desire to speak with one community voice in order to improve the community’s standing and stature in Frankfort and Washington, D.C., as has been successfully done with One Knox
  • A desire to eliminate duplication when and where possible by combining groups and organizations in order to improve efficiency and more efficiently market and promote the community
  • A desire to improve the existing quality of place/quality of life by improving the visual appearance in urban areas, develop new retail opportunities, and change existing alcoholic beverage laws in order to foster the development of new restaurants, pubs and other new dining experiences
  • A desire to re-develop Downtown Elizabethtown to include new retail, entertainment and residential opportunities which will be unique to the County and will serve as a magnet for young professionals

 

Project Findings

Based upon the research which was conducted, along with the site visits and discussion from two robust community leadership planning sessions, project participants agreed upon 24 strategic goals, grouped in the following categories for Hardin County:

  • Education
  • Community Unification
  • Community Development
  • Quality of Place/Quality of Life
  • Downtown Elizabethtown
  • Health Care

Media Reports

The (Elizabethtown) News-Enterprise reported extensively on the Hardin County Vision Project.  Many of these articles can be viewed by visiting the Latest News section of this web site.

Path Forward/Hardin County United

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 by many of the vision project participants for the purpose of examining each of the 24 strategic goals and developing an implementation strategy.

The first official action taken as follow-up to the Hardin County Vision Project was the development of Hardin County United (HCU).

HCU logo_3

HCU is an ad-hoc group which was established to formally examine the goals which were established during the Vision Project.  HCU started with a Steering Committee comprised of 58 community leaders (including elected officials, business and industry leaders, school superintendents, etc.) and with three subcommittees: Community Development, Education and Governance.

L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC President Luke Schmidt provides management and consulting services to Hardin County United.

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Filed Under: 2013, Community Visioning Projects, Projects Tagged With: Community visioning, Economic development, luke schmidt

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