Heartland Visioning Inaugural Report, 2009

Today Heartland Visioning released its inaugural report. The report, which is promised every year, will provide a look at what has been accomplished in the year toward achieving the community-wide vision. The efforts put in by the dedicated vision partners and over 500 volunteers from around the community are what make the success of Heartland Visioning possible.

There are changes taking place in Shawnee County. In 2008, Shawnee County grew by 0.8% only 0.2% away from the 1% annual growth target.

The average earnings per job increased 1.6% in Shawnee County during the first quarter of 2009 versus a decline of 2.5% nationally. This is 3.35% over our benchmark target of being 0.75% over the national average for average job earnings.

Lastly, from 2006 to 2007, crime in Shawnee County declined by 12%, a greater decrease than the U.S. average. Additionally, crime in the City of Topeka has dropped 6.4% from 2007 to 2008.

These Key Benchmark results show that change is happening for the better. From here, the goal for Heartland Visioning is to keep these changes going in a positive direction. The Key Benchmarks are used as indicators, letting the Strategic Alliances and everyone know that what we are doing is working.

“There are a lot of wonderful things happening in our community,” said William Beteta, Executive Director, Heartland Visioning. “This was a learning year for all of us. One thing we learned was about all the great people and programs that exist and are working on things the community said it wants.”

In learning about existing programs, Heartland Visioning’s mission is to help like minded individuals and organizations build collaboration and make what they do even better for the community.

A copy of the report is available by contacting the Heartland Visioning office 785.231.6006, info@heartlandvisioning.com or go to the Website www.heartlandvisionoing.com.

Heartland Visioning is a community-wide initiative to develop and implement a shared strategic vision for what we want our community to be in 5, 10, or 20 years.