Alliance of West Virginia Champion Communities
Strategic Plan – Draft
June 2005
History of the
Alliance of Champion Communities
The Alliance of West Virginia Champion Communities was initiated in 1993 through the Empowerment Zone Program. As a result of this Small Cities Block Grant [SCBG] opportunity, three awards were made in West Virginia. Subsequent to these initial awards, eight communities in West Virginia were named Champion Communities by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, which afforded each special consideration for future grant awards. Governor Gaston Caperton thereafter awarded grants to each community. Additional awards were made under this funding in 1997 and 1999.
Each Champion Community was established to improve economic and community development in their rural region and to mitigate the negative effects of economic problems and job losses. This initiative was a “grass roots” movement, which included the requisite empowerment for each community to identify and solve their own problems and to achieve sustainable development.
Representing 12 West Virginia counties, Champion Communities include the following:
History of the Planning Process
This Strategic Plan was developed June 7 and 8, 2005. Participants in the planning process included the following:
This document supersedes all prior strategic plans.
Because the Alliance of Champion Communities [ACC] recognized the importance of improving their respective neighborhoods, major portions of West Virginia have become more economically competitive and effectively served by technologies that affect the quality of life in rural areas. The result is that residents are engaged in commerce based in rural Appalachia and marketed throughout the world. Improvement in the access to convergence technologies has also improved learning for students and medical care for all.
To facilitate these changes and to support grass-roots community planning and development among Champion Communities, the ACC established a base of operations and assumed responsibility for the following activities:
The ACC received significant support from legislators and policy makers because they dedicated a portion of their effort to ensuring that all understood the importance of integrating emerging technologies into rural regions. This effort resulted in passage of legislation and financial resources to ensure that all rural citizens would have the resources necessary to develop their own communities.
To attain the vision described above, the ACC:
· Employment trends
· Businesses located in Champion Communities
· Industry clusters with GIS capacity
· Other community development tools and information
· Expertise within Alliance Communities
· White Papers developed by Champion Communities
· Training opportunities
· Data on grants and proposal development
· Data useful to attaining the ACC mission
§ Restructured Alliance meetings to include time for sharing of best practices and lessons learned among Champion Communities in areas of education, entrepreneurship, community development, heritage tourism, etc.
Mission Statement
The Alliance of Champion Communities is a community-based, citizen-led partnership that assists West Virginia communities in becoming more economically competitive by providing education, technical assistance, and the sharing of best practices in community development.
Guiding Principles
[Note: Each of bullets identified as Guiding Principles should have a
strong paragraph developed to describe the principle – See operations Plan.]
Guiding Principles provide a framework for ACC operations and values. They include:
§ Strategic vision for change within and among Champion Communities
§ Citizen leadership with a focus on including all segments of rural society
§ Belief that all people deserve access to and knowledge of emerging technologies so that they may use them to affect their own destinies
§ Collaboration with many partners within each Champion Community and regionally
§ Alliance activities have a high degree of credibility because of commitment to excellence and effective management
Environmental
Assessment
Strengths of the ACC
§ Number of involved communities
§ Common challenges and goals
§ By-laws, articles of incorporation and other documents completed
§ Meeting schedule established
§ Substantial collective impact within each Champion Community
§ Evolution of organizations and initiatives as a result of Alliance operations
§ Collective knowledge, history, experience, abilities, and capacities
§ Numerous levels of influence among communities
§ Citizen-led with strong civic spirit, passion and tenacity
§ Ability to raise funds
§ Ability to accomplish projects without funding
§ “ACC Brand” recognized and respected within some organizations
§ Flexibility and ability to handle change
§ Open to varied participation within Alliance Communities
§ Relationships with Benedum Foundation, Appalachian Regional Commission, the West Virginia Development Office, and the WV Division of Tourism
§ Support from CDP of West Virginia
Weaknesses of the ACC
§ Potential ARC Grant for Broadband
§ Involvement in state legislature studies on Broadband and Tourism
§ Alliance visibility at the Legislative Joint Technical Committee in July
§ Benedum follow-on grant
§ Loss of interest by Champion Communities if the Alliance is unable to establish a relevant presence within a reasonable length of time
§ Champion Communities that cease activities thereby diminishing the size of the collaborative