A new organization – Hardin County United – has been launched and has established a steering committee to see it through its initial development phase.
Press Release
Contact:
The Honorable Harry L. Berry
Hardin County Judge/Executive
270.765.2350
Luke B. Schmidt
President, L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC
502.292.2898
For Immediate Release
Hardin County United Launches Steering Committee
New Organization to Develop Platform Which Will Examine Recently Developed Community Strategic Goals
Elizabethtown, Kentucky (April 27, 2010) – A new organization – Hardin County United – has been launched and has established a steering committee to see it through its initial development phase.
The development of Hardin County United (HCU) is the first action taken by community leaders since 24 strategic goals were announced earlier this month as the result of the Hardin County Vision Project. As of today, 28 community leaders have volunteered to serve on the steering committee (a complete list of steering committee members follows).
The intent of HCU is to develop a platform which will examine each of the 24 strategic goals and to develop recommendations as to how the community should proceed. It is expected that the steering committee will work to formally charter HCU into a formal, free-standing organization.
Hardin County Judge/Executive Harry L. Berry will serve as the Chairperson of HCU. Radcliff Mayor Sheila Enyart will serve as Vice Chairperson. In addition, Brad Richardson, Executive Director of One Knox, will serve as the Chairperson of the Community Development Subcommittee. Al Rider, President/CEO of the North Central Education Foundation, will serve as the Chairperson of the Education Subcommittee and Ken Howard, Hardin Circuit Court Judge, will serve as the Chairperson of the Governance Subcommittee.
“Hardin County United will serve as the springboard to fully examine each of the 24 community strategic goals and to implement those goals which will provide real dividends to the County,” said Hardin County Judge/Executive Harry L. Berry. “Each of these goals can make a real difference when it comes to such things as education, community unification, quality of place/quality of life issues, etc. Hardin County has always been one of Kentucky’s leading counties…HCU will help take us to the next level.”
Each of the 24 goals was established following a methodical visioning process conducted by L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC, a Louisville-based consulting firm, beginning in July 2009. Group interviews were conducted along with an examination of benchmark counties (select counties which align demographically with Hardin County in the Southeast). In addition, confidential key stakeholder surveys were submitted to 100 community leaders with over 70% responding. Two community leadership forums were held to review the survey findings and to develop the strategic goals.
“The formation of HCU is an important first step towards the examination and implementation of the strategic goals,” said Luke B. Schmidt, President of L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC. “All too often when visioning and strategic planning sessions such as this one are conducted, the goals are tucked away in a nice, neat report and placed on a shelf to gather dust. The community’s leaders have decided that in this case they would like to gain a complete understanding of the impact of each goal and work towards the implementation of those goals which make the most sense.”
In the end, the intent of the process is to make Hardin County even more competitive for future civilian and military investment Schmidt stated. The goals can assist in this process. The next step in the process will be to present the findings of the Vision Project to the first Community Forum, which will be held at the Hardin County Schools Performing Arts Center at John Hardin High School (384 W.A. Jenkins Road, Elizabethtown) on Thursday, April 29th, beginning at 4:00 PM. The public is invited to attend.
Hardin County is the sixth largest county (by population) in Kentucky and is governed by the three Commissioners of Hardin County Fiscal Court and Hardin County Judge/Executive Harry Berry (www.hcky.org).
L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC is a Louisville-based consulting firm which specializes in strategic planning, organizational development, public affairs, economic development and marketing/communications projects (www.lbschmidt.com).