TDC Hosts Vision 2040 Forum to Discuss Clinton County's
Economic Future
November 2009 Issue
Clinton County has experienced a dramatic resurgence in economic and community vitality over the past fifteen years. Although there is no question that local businesses and citizens alike have felt the ill-effects of the recent economic downturn, The Development Corporation (TDC) believes that the region’s overall economic outlook is sound and the future is promising.
TDC sponsored its Institute for Development and Economic Analysis (IDEA) to conduct a community forum on November 11, 2009. The Vision 2040 economic forum consisted of a small group of diverse community members who engaged in constructive dialogue about Clinton County's collective future. The IDEA provided participants with economic and demographic data on the local communities as well as offered various observations on local, state, national and global economic/social trends that could affect the region's future. Event participants were asked to propose community innovations that could help accelerate the area's socio-economic progress. Discussion topics included Government Efficiency, the Cost of Doing Business in New York, Workforce Development and Education, Quality of Life, the Canadian Connection and Demographics.
"Our goal was to initiate a greater and ongoing community discussion," said Dr. Colin Read, Director of the IDEA and Professor of Economics at Plattsburgh State University. "This forum was less about talking and more about listening to those aspects of our evolution upon which we can all agree. The lofty goal of eventually forging a vision for the year 2040 was constructed so we can focus on the longest of views. By doing so, we put aside our own preferences for the here and now and imagine what needs to be done to make Clinton County sustainable and attractive for those that will follow us," continued Read.
Julie West, Executive Director of CBN Connect and facilitator for the Quality of Life table stated, "The Vision 2040 Forum was a great first step in bringing together the right people to create a roadmap toward our future. The use of small groups from diverse organizations to brainstorm on a variety of pertinent topics allowed several great ideas to surface; which can be viewed as starting points for the more in-depth work to begin. In order to move this vision forward, momentum must come from not only the business community at large, but also include our regional young professionals who will be the ones that carry on this work as some of us retire. If we can agree on a common strategy and engage the right champions, we can transform these ideas into actions, which is the really exciting part. I am glad that The Development Corporation’s IDEA took this first step and am looking forward to the next step."
Bob Smith, local business owner and a participant at the Government Efficiency offered some observations about his table’s topic: "It is clear from the facts that our communities have significant duplication of services both programmatically and administratively. Our ability to fund these services is limited by our dwindling tax base, which causes a significant burden on the taxpayer. We will be forced to make the necessary changes in our system in order to remain solvent. The question is: Will we drive this change or will we be driven by it? I have always felt that if the people lead--the leaders will follow. That is what Vision 2040 is all about!"
TDC hopes that this smaller forum will build momentum for a much larger and more inclusive economic conference planned for 2010. Be sure to look for Dr. Read's in-depth analysis on the Vision 2040 outcomes in TDC IDEA’s December newsletter. 
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