Last week the Grand Vision took an important step toward becoming a real agent for changing how land use, transportation and community economic development decisions are made in the six county region. The coordinating group that initiated the citizen-led process nearly four years ago recognized that it is time for a new distributed leadership structure, and officially agreed that it's work was done.

In a separate meeting TC-TALUS, the governmental transportation agency that has been managing the Grand Vision contract between the Federal Highway Administration and the consultant team, also acknowledged the new Grand Vision structure for implementation.

The new Grand Vision structure that was formally approved by the Coordinating Group consists of six working groups organized around the prominent themes that emerged from the Grand Vision. A  seventh "CORE" working group (Communications, Organization, Resources and Education) will provide a variety of support to the groups, as well as coordinate the work between groups.

Each of these new working groups are being convened in the next few weeks. Leading regional organizations have stepped forward to host initial meetings in each of the Grand Vision themes as follows:

• Growth and Investment Areas – New Designs for Growth/ Northwest Michigan Council of Governments
• Housing – Community Housing Choices/ Northwest Michigan Council of Governments
• Transportation – Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce
• Food & Farming – Taste the Local Difference/ Michigan Land Use Institute
• Natural Resources – Watershed Center – Grand Traverse Bay
• Energy – SEEDS

Initially each working group will work to ensure that all of the key stakeholder organizations in the six-county region that are involved and interested in the issue area are invited to participate in the working group. Once the group participants are engaged, the next activity will be to set measurable goals, benchmarks for progress, and specific action strategies to advance the goals.

"The citizens of our six-county region have articulated their Grand Vision, now we are here to help the citizens make that vision a reality," said Marsha Smith, Executive Director Rotary Charities of Traverse City. "This will continue to be a citizen-led initiative."

Each of the working groups will conduct open and transparent meetings, and all of their activities will be well documented and described on the Grand Vision website, www.thegrandvision.org. The site currently contains basic information about each of the working groups, and will continue to post meetings, minutes, events, and progress through blogs, articles and videos.

"The Grand Vision is multi-faceted, so this will be a dynamic, ongoing process," said Marsha. "The CORE group will provide guidance and seek resources, but it will be up to each working group to determine what will work best for them, and to tell us what they need. We don't want a bureaucracy; we want a basic structure that enables people to effectively communicate, and to get things done."

The Grand Vision is a planning effort designed to develop a citizen-led blueprint for growth that will secure the future prosperity and quality of life in the region for generations to come.

For additional information and updates please refer to www.thegrandvision.org

For more information:

Marsha Smith, Rotary Charities of Traverse City, 231-941-4010, msmith@rotarycharities.org

Jennifer Hutchinson, Communications Coordinator, 231-218-0096, jen@thegrandvision.org