Springfield is a “learning community.” And I truly believe that learning communities will continue to be the winners in the future. Why do I say that?
A group of 47 community leaders from the Springfield region recently journeyed to Fort Collins, Colo., as part of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s 19th Community Leadership Visit. A few years ago, in the heart of the recession, we “visited” our own community to save money. That “trip” was eye-opening for most members of our delegation – they were shown the good, the bad, the pretty and the ugly. It helped us identify what we are doing well and our challenges of today and tomorrow.
The purpose of these trips is, quite frankly, to learn from other communities and borrow their best ideas to bring home and apply here if they are a good fit. Past leadership visits have been the catalyst for many community improvement projects such as the Springfield Regional Economic Partnership; Community Focus: A Report on Springfield and Greene County; center city development; the Facing Racism Institute; and the new terminal of the Springfield-Branson National Airport. We’ve identified areas where we can do better. We’ve also identified areas where we are doing better than our host cities, and we willingly share ideas with them. These trips are a two-way conversation.
In nearly a decade of trips I’ve participated in, each has been extremely valuable to me, not only from what I’ve learned from our host cities, but also because of the conversations that occur within our own delegation.
Some communities we’ve visited have marveled at our ability to get our business leaders, elected officials, nonprofit leaders and public entity staff to participate. Other communities have said they couldn’t make that happen without a fistfight. These trips speak volumes about our community’s willingness to work together and collaborate to solve problems.
Yes, Fort Collins is doing a few things of which we were envious – actively supporting a culture of entrepreneurship and sustainable living, all in beautiful surroundings – but I’m reminded of the many advantages we have in Springfield, too.
There are communities that think they have it all figured out and, consequently, are not open to learning from others’ successes and failures. I’m thankful that Springfield is not one of those communities. On the contrary, Springfield is a community open to learning. Learning communities will be the winners during the next few decades.
Greg Burris is Springfield’s city manager. He can be reached at gburris@springfieldmo.gov.[[In-content Ad]]
