Destination Erie - Sustainable Communities Kick Off Event
Destination Erie: A Regional Vision: Initiative launches with public outreach sessions
ERIE, Pa., May 10, 2012 — Destination Erie: A Regional Vision is a chart for our future designed with broad public participation to create a vision, strategy and action plan to meet the region’s economic, educational, social and environmental challenges of the 21st century.
The initiative will formally launch two public outreach sessions on May 22 and 23, 2012. It is time to set the course that will map our action plan for a sustainable community. There will be a short presentation starting at 6:30 p.m. on May 22 and 23, followed by 6 breakout sessions with the Project Management teams and consulting experts. Please note, two locations have been selected to maximize public input from all geographic areas of our region, you need only to attend one presentation.
Members of Wallace, Roberts & Todd (WRT), the Project Management team and key experts in the fields of economic and workforce development, housing, transportation and decision making will be on hand to help move the activities forward.
Steering Committee Members include:
• County Executive Barry Grossman, Committee Chair
• Michael Fuhrman, Project Manager
• Ben Pratt, Project Coordinator
• Barbara Chaffee,CEO Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership,
• Dr. William Garvey, President, Jefferson Educational Society
• Brenda Sandberg, City of Erie, Director of Community and Economic Development
• Michele Zieziula,CEO of Regional Center for Workforce Excellence
•HUD Facilitator:
Jake Welsh, Director, Erie County Planning Department
John McGranor, Erie County Planning Department
This planning process coincides with Erie’s bicentennial (2013) celebration of the Battle of Lake Erie. Building on the legacy of two landmark plans created by John Nolen in 1913 and Maurice Rotival the early 60’s, Destination Erie: A Regional Vision will set the course for the region to capitalize on its rich resources and position the region to compete in the global
market place.
Destination Erie: A Regional Vision Launch Meeting (1)
Date: Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Location: Penn State Behrend-McGarvey Commons
Reed Union Bldg., 4701 College Drive, Erie PA 16563
Time: 6:30PM to 8:00PM
OR
Destination Erie: A Regional Vision Launch Meeting (2)
Date: Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Location: Northwest Tri-County Intermediate Unit Conference Room B
252 Waterford Street, Edinboro PA
Time: 6:30PM to 8:00PM
BACKGROUND:
In December 2011, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Regional Administrator Jane C. W. Vincent announced the County of Erie as one of the recipients of the 2011 Sustainable Communities Grants.
Erie County is one of 29 regions throughout the nation that received a Regional Planning grant. The $1.8 million dollar grant is being used to develop the Destination Erie: A Regional Vision action plan for Sustainable Development. The goal of the Sustainable Communities grants is to support communities and regions to improve their economic competitiveness by
connecting housing with good jobs, quality schools and transportation.
The five county (Erie, Crawford, Warren, Chautauqua, and Ashtabula), 72 member Destination Erie Consortium has been created to collaborate with local and regional governments, regional planning agencies, and nonprofit/private sector organizations to commit to planning for a more competitive and prosperous future for the Erie region through the development and implementation of a Regional Plan for Sustainable Development (RPSD).
Strategic working groups have been developed within the Consortium and are open for public participation. These working groups provide an opportunity for people throughout the region to get involved in the planning process. Working group meetings will be structured around the major decision points, including community forums and strategy and action plan development. The working groups are organized around the themes of the HUD regional planning grants and address related topics required by the Pennsylvania Municipalities Code for comprehensive plans.
