Community Vitality Center Board Strategic Planning Session Notes

June 20, 2007 ISU Memorial Union - CVC 5 year Anniversary.

Ester Mae introduced to lead process at 1:37 pm

1. Gradients of Agreement handout
2. Community Vitality Mission statement
3. Quick Read of the mission, skimming

1) FOCUS ON MISSION: Is it still relevant? What are the PHRASES that come to mind regarding CVC Mission?

• CATALYST
• Rural
• Policy
• Facilitate
• Community
• Engagement
• Empowerment
• Actionable

Is this still relevant? One verbal yes, some heads nod
Color code can be waived in lieu of verbal response

Rand: Government affairs --- so a word that is not included is “advocacy”. Should we become more active at local, region, state, and federal level?

• diverse board,
• if we are not engaged in policy making, then missing the opportunity for providing information and communication level,
• won’t know what our comparative advantages, good information into the process

Do we want to focus more on advocacy, if so, we need to have outside of government sources of funds to conduct activities

Pieces of research, --- but is there coordination at the state level? (example of Minnesota)

Center for government excellence bill passed this year is one opportunity.

Nominating committee recommendation to establish governmental relations committee – linkage and sharing of information and expertise more important than advocacy ----

Foster open source, collaboration
Education and information processes –
Relationships with lots of different groups
Strength to move issues along
CVC is known for groundbreaking research to cause people about actionable alternatives --- how to help provide unbiased information to policymakers and other leaders?

Recommend being involved with rural initiatives without using the advocacy word --- back to improving vitality of Iowans

Education is a more appropriate role versus advocacy

CVC focused on identifying elements of the rural policy differential. What does this “differential” mean? ? This term came from RUPRI language and refers to differ impacts between rural and urban from one policy. If a policy has positive impacts in metro areas but doesn’t work in rural areas, then there is a differential consequences for rural constituencies resulting from a policy that is the same for both rural and urban areas.

2). CVC History Review: Celebration of 5 Years of Success; Plus a Look Forward

One idea to Sticky Note Page ---
Events or actions or happenings, research done, reports done,
Full size page each CVC 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
New Ideas for 2008

2008: One suggestion from IDED was to focus on conversion of upper story on main street to housing for retiring farm couples (spirited humor on young people and issues with the young people)

Entrepreneurship, Philanthropy and Policy studies like New Movers support attracting young people to come to rural Iowa and to stay in Iowa

Comment was that CVC was successful in part due to focus on limited number of initiatives:

Missing --- little said about the pilot grants as they represented lots of little projects that have may have not generated a lot of lessons learned or successful models for sharing with other communities. May be a measurement and reporting problem or difference among community leader preferences and circumstances. Perhaps a spin off of the initial 3 thrusts could be a deeper assessment of what works and what doesn’t. Did any successful models evolve out of the grants?

CVC picked two emerging topics back in 2002 that had not yet gelled at the time, but they have really turned out to be two major cutting edge issues for rural development in Iowa. The Board concluded that while some of the focus may have happened without CVC, certainly CVC deserves a lot of credit for helping to elevate the discussion and awareness on behalf of rural constituencies.

CVC does not have a systematic evaluation process for generating marketing in Iowa. Edelman indicated that the evaluation process is geared for satisfying federal funding reports. The Board consensus appeared to be that sustainability will require more recognition and focus on evaluation and outcomes of successful models and expressed desire for improved processes for gathering up information systematically and seeing that reports glean lessons learned for duplication and distribution.

Ideas for 2008

• Continue to Educate
• Continue to partner with relevant groups
• Continue Greater Focus on Budget Diversification for Sustainability
• Endowment Building Capacity Pilot Projects
• Focus on best practices
• Continue to conduct relevant and timely research
• Continue recognition/idea sharing
• We are able to try things and take risks that (other leaders may not have had ability to take these risks (example CDFI ideas and how to make it work!!!)
• Presentation makes the reports come to life – like this morning’s CDFI
• Willingness to identify the high hanging fruit
• Endowments involve greater effort and greater rewards for local affiliates!!!
• 3 legislatives issues: Planned Gifts Tax Credits, Improved microenterprise finance, governing excellence initiative
• Workforce Shortage Crisis--Do we fully understanding the demographic challenges and changes before us?
• Strategies for Mature Workers
• Strategies for cultivating new residents and diverse cultures
• Population stability --- battle is being lost by many communities

Local – vs. regional --- state and federal folks look at the region capacity

Rural Development in New Farm Bill will have Regional Incentives: CVC should help implementation.

Some of the communities need to look at themselves as a neighbor

3) Are we doing the right things?

TOP PRIORITIES:

Idea --- collaborate with Farm Bureau and UNI MyEntreNet on state-wide rural Community Entrepreneurship Academy, changing the approach of CVC who is in charge versus more collaboration – Consensus was that this appeared to be the right direction.

Challenge grants -- yes

Free up staff to get to evaluation of projects, push the grantees --- more of a sophisticated grant approach and impact --yes

Best practices -- great set of reports available

Product of best practices is not getting out/ Identify ways that people can us it!!

Missing link on philanthropy --- Endowment infrastructure --!! At the local level, umbrella is there but not local capacity—endowment building capacity pilots are right direction. Need for local staff, fundraising training, people that actually do the asks, organize and maintain database of donors, work with financial advisors, and carryout fundraising activities,

Evolving Initiatives

1. Federal initiatives ---
   1. Farm bill discussion regional collaboration incentives and implementation in Iowa
   2. Farm bill microenterprise program
   3. Farm bill rural business investment companies
2. State relations ( IDED, ICOF, ICAN)
   1. Planned Gift Tax Credit
   2. Monitor & catalyze Government Excellence Center Opportunity
   3. Microenterprise finance collaboration
   4. Improve CVC relationship with IDED
   5. Position pilot projects to demonstrate worth of concepts to policymakers
   6. New movers strategies to attract and retain population
   7. Internship programs to get young people back in rural communities (interest by state commission and renewed by state funding since demise of Life in Iowa)
   8. Mature workers and entrepreneurs
   9. Age of housing stock

IDED Battelle Study on Entrepreneurship & follow-up Entrepreneur Education Task Force– left out many rural Iowa entrepreneur assistance networks but may have some useful recommendations
Targeted industries --- new IDED division
Continue efforts to diversify CVC funding