Early Draft of VISION 2030 Plan Complete

The VISION 2030 planning groups wrapped up their work last month, offering recommendations on how to achieve the strategic goals listed in the common vision. The common vision was created last year based from than 4,000 citizen ideas of what Gainesville-Hall County should be like by the year 2030.

Anita Scott, Co-chair of VISION 2030, said that after the steering committee reviews the planning group recommendations, a draft of a plan will be written based on the suggestions and presented to the public for review.

“Last year, we asked citizens what they wanted Gainesville-Hall County to look like, but not how those improvements should be accomplished. Planners have spent the last two months figuring out how to implement the citizen ideas.”, Scott said.

Citizens will get the chance to learn about and critique the draft of the VISION 2030 plan for Gainesville-Hall County at a Community Day event in mid-May.

“This plan affects everyone who lives in Hall County”, said Rob Fowler, VISION 2030 Co-chair. “So we’re asking for comments from everyone, even if they weren’t able to participate in the visioning or planning processes.”

Seven planning groups were composed of citizens and subject area experts, working in areas where their expertise or interest was relevant. Subject areas were:

  • Arts, Culture, Recreation, Quality of Life
  • Diversity
  • Education and Workforce Development
  • Healthcare
  • Image, Tourism, Economic Development
  • Land Use and Transportation
  • Social Capital, Leadership, Government

Each group was asked to make recommendations for how to accomplish between one and three strategic tasks drawn in the common vision that were related to their subject area. About 130 people were involved with each of the seven groups.

“The planners took three hours out of their schedules on four different occasions to help with this plan, and we very much appreciate the time they gave us,” said Denise Deal, executive director of VISION 2030. 3When the final plan is released in June, it will be something we all can be proud of, and it would not have been possible without their hard work.”

The recommendations will be listed on the VISION 2030 web site soon. Meanwhile, reports from all four meetings are available on the VISION 2030 web site, and the exact date for Community Day will be posted there when it is finalized.

VISION 2030 is a nine-month effort sponsored by the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce to create a vision and strategic plan for Gainesville-Hall County. The vision statement is posted on the VISION 2030 web site: www.vision2030.org

For more information, call Denise Deal at 770-532-6206 or e-mail: ddeal@vision2030.org