Examples of Outcomes for MAPPING Communities
Morrison Community: MAPPING
Morrison (pop. 4,447) - With a bustling downtown, historic walk, and active community, Morrison is an ideal, quaint town. Morrison contacted the MAPPING staff in order to help the community to more effectively work together towards progress. Before the MAPPING sessions, a number of groups and committees were working on a number of different projects, but were not working together, nor were they working towards one common vision. In order to organize the MAPPING effort, the Chamber of Commerce, the City of Morrison, and the Morrison Area Development Corporation all came together to create the steering committee. The willingness of all three groups to work together was vital to MAPPING's success. With over 75 participants in the MAPPING process, Morrison came up with five high priority goals and strategies to tackle in the next few years:
- Develop community events and festivals such as a farmer's market as a way to promote Morrison as a tourist destination
- Market Morrison as a great place to live, visit, and start a business
- Develop family activities and infrastructure to promote Morrison as a family oriented community
- Investigate and set up a business incubator to promote economic growth
- Provide educational opportunities for children and youth
Following the MAPPING process, Morrison has decided to host a Peace Corps Fellow to help provide guidance as they work on the community's high priority goals and strategies. Furthermore, when presenting their action plan to the community at the town meeting, in which more than 150 residents attended, several volunteers decided to join one of the action teams. Since their town meeting last April, participants have been to Sterling to visit an existing incubator and bike racks have been placed in convenient locations to promote a more accessible community. Morrison is now working on ways to secure funding for their "bigger" projects.
Contact Information: Robert Wood, (815) 772-2014
Havana Community: MAPPING Update
Havana (pop. 3,577) - The small community of Havana has been one of the MAPPING "success" stories since its first MAPPING in 1996. Since that time, the community has conducted two MAPPING Updates to keep the momentum sustained, with the most recent being almost three years ago. Since then, the Central Illinois Opportunity Returns newsletter recognized Havana as a rural community with a strong record of results in community and economic development. The recurring MAPPING strategic planning and visioning meetings were cited in the newsletter as an important component in promoting communication and collaboration between the various local volunteer groups.
The coordinated efforts of the Havana Chamber of Commerce with the "Hav-A-Vision" (Havana Area Vision) Committee and the City have been key to their success. In the past few years, several activities have been pursued:
Economic Development Activities for the City of Havana
- The City of Havana was awarded $408,840 ITEP Grant for riverfront trail development.
- Havana assisted with successfully establishing the Scenic Byway designation.
- The City reached an agreement of understanding with Sunrise Ag to build a public port facility.
- The City developed a second tax increment financing district.
- The City created and printed two new city brochures including one specifically for business attraction.
MAPPING Committees
Signage Committee: Erected Eagle and Nest sculpture at Riverfront Park; planning "Welcome to Havana" sign at north end of town.
Marketing Committee: Created and hosted the first local "Hometown Tour." This project began with the committee researching commercial bus tours in small communities and how they were organized, successfully recruiting local bank support; investigating 20 local tour destinations and more than half a dozen themes.
Education Committee: Facilitated instituting a Foster Grandparent Program in the schools; raised awareness among the business community to support schools in non-financial ways; improved communication between the schools and the community through monthly articles in the local paper.
River Committee: Hosted the annual Eagle Days Festival with great success, including attracting bus tours from Peoria and Rochester; 500 attended the Raptor Shows; 250 ate breakfast with the Eagles served by the Prevention Team; five major financial sponsors assisted; a dozen other businesses and organizations were instrumental in providing materials or help; and close to 30 individuals plus Boy Scouts, high school students and Prevention Team members volunteered to work that day or to get ready for it. The committee is now working on organizing a "Geocaching" Festival for this fall
Volunteer Committee: Members of the Chamber of Commerce and the Hav-a-Vision group developed a volunteer survey with assistance from the IIRA MAPPING staff to learn more about how to promote local volunteer efforts. Members of community organizations were surveyed using the Option Finder polling system. The volunteer survey investigated new ways for the various local groups to collaborate further and identified volunteer training topics for future capacity building efforts.
Contact Information: Terry Svob, (309) 543-2492
Strasburg Community: MAPPING
Strasburg has been extremely busy since they completed the MAPPING Program in fall 2007. The following is a brief description of accomplishments. From the MAPPING Process they established 6 Action Teams: Business, Housing, Education, Infrastructure, Marketing, and Beautification. Instrumental in the continued success of the actions teams is the establishment of the umbrella organization which oversees each of the teams. The Strasburg Community Action Network or better known as Strasburg CAN!, will provide the oversight for each committee and coordinate volunteer efforts towards improving their community. A logo was developed and will also be used as a trademark for the committee.
Business and Housing: They are currently exploring a residential housing development. Strasburg has also been in "talks" with a convenience store chain to be located in the community. They are coordinating this effort with the establishment of a TIF district. Currently they are hosting information sessions to the community and coordinating with taxing districts which will be affected. Future goals are to purchase additional land lots for the town to purchase and incorporate into the development.
Education: The action team has been focusing on establishing a PTA. The first organizational meeting is scheduled for September 16th at 7pm in the school's cafeteria.
Infrastructure: As part of a grant process for fund to improve their sewer system, the action team recently completed a community income survey. They are compiling the data and will incorporate it into their grant requests.
Marketing/Beautification: Beginning with the MAPPING Program, the action team has worked towards improving awareness of the positive attributes of Strasburg. The town has been highlighted in numerous regional papers and has also developed a Gnome Trademark for the community.
Other accomplishments have been an increased web presence, a Strasburg Brochure, establishing a welcome committee and promoting community involvement. In early May, the Beautification team hosted a Flower Sale. They raised approximately $800, which has been designated for landscaping improvements within the community. On the main roads entering Strasburg, new welcoming signs have been given to the village and are now erected as you enter the village.
Strasburg CAN has also established a partnership with Effingham County Community Foundation. Instead of establishing their own community foundation, they determined it would best meet their needs by partnering with an existing foundation in their county. As a partner, they are the Strasburg Community Improvement Fund with the mission to provide improvements to enhance the Strasburg community. Three to five advisors from SCAN will be appointed to the foundation board. Efforts have been very visible through media releases, word of mouth and town meetings. Strasburg has a goal of raising $50k for the foundation. They will be placing a "thermometer" in the downtown area to maintain awareness and continuously inform the community of the status of their fundraising efforts.
Contact Information: Gary Kull, (217) 644-3014
