Our staff knows that summer is officially upon us when our calendar hits Dr. Mark Peterson‘s Breakthrough Solutions Conference. One of our favorite conferences to attend, Breakthrough Solutions aims to create 21st century communities and regions that are vibrant, sustainable, and resilient (echoing the Center’s work and making Mark a GREAT partner for our initiatives). The program is described as “an award-winning, next-generation strategic planning and development program of the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service with partners in the public, private, and non-profit sectors.”
Known as a cutting-edge program in the field of community and economic development, the 2015 Breakthrough Solutions conference (and pre-conference focused on community branding) did not disappoint those in attendance. Every minute of Breakthrough Solutions enlightened, engaged, and informed – imagine an information highway running through participants heads at 70 mph. Our brains were so laden with new information at the end of each day we were owed an afternoon nap!
So, let’s dig into the nitty gritty of the conference starting at the beginning – the pre-conference workshop entitled “Fresh Thinking and Bold Action Through Branding Your Community.” The pre-conference was spear headed by branding expert Roger Brooks‘s “Developing an Economic Development Brand” video, Martin Thoma (Principal of Thoma Thoma), and Chip Culpepper (Principal of Mangan Holcomb Partners). Roger Brooks relayed the first golden nugget of information to attendees with the statement, “94 percent of people with access to the Internet are using it to determine where they should live, where they should visit, and where they should start a business.” Embracing this fact and understanding its impact on Arkansas communities is essential to successful community branding. Adding to that foundation, participants also needed to grasp that community brands are not completely composed by communities; there are already inside and outside perceptions set in place that impact community brands. These perceptions are driven by:
- Visual cues
- People and attitudes
- Word-of-mouth
- Social media and publicity
Roger Brooks also stressed to participants that they should NOT market every asset they have to their target audiences. Brooks pushed listeners to market what makes them DIFFERENT. He posed the question, “What is the one thing your community can provide to consumers that they can not get anywhere else or within driving distance elsewhere?” Another key to successful branding Brooks pointed out is to market a brand that is experiential because tourism is built on “things to do.”
Brooks’s video introduced participants to an overview of community branding and supplied a 13-step Branding Process. After the video ended, Martin Thoma gave a quick spiel over how brands work and why they work. Thoma stated that successful brands must follow U.S.A. (are unique, sustainable, and have a competitive advantage), must have gained loyalty from consumers, and are not a result, but a process.
Brooks and Thoma’s presentations helped get our branding juices flowing before entering the afternoon session where we split into groups to assist two Arkansas communities in a mini branding session. Our session was led by Thoma and concentrated on Cleveland County (the other session led by Culpepper focused on Perry County). Thoma led the group through the following process:
- Cleveland County reported on their fact-finding
- The county identified its target markets
- Our group and the county identified high potential branding themes
- The differentiating ideas were run through a feasibility test
- The group assisted the county in writing a brand promise – their brand story
- Cleveland County community leaders described their desired brand – what did they want to be known for in 10 years, and the brand promise – how will they deliver on that promise
- We discussed the potential look and feel of their brand
- Our group talked about their brand product bank and action plan
The pre-conference ended on a high note as our groups were filled with achievement as we wrapped up our branding assistance for both counties involved in the sessions. The day was a perfect blend of lecture and hands-on technical assistance.
The next morning kick-started a more in-depth look into what Breakthrough Solutions encompasses. Dell Gines, Senior Community Development Officer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, was introduced as the keynote speaker and was the first of the day to present. Gines began his speech fast and hard, delving into the current state of community and economic development. He posed the question, “If industrial education and economic development activities were popular in the past, but are now ineffective, how do we change to support small businesses and entrepreneurs?” He pointed out that we as economic developers need to change the conversation away from industrial attraction to small business creation, support, and entrepreneurial education. Gone are the days of gaining “big business” on a large level.
Gines also pushed rural communities to funnel their energy into small business creation, retention, and expansion. He stated that as population severely increases, big business increases, but as population stays fairly stagnant or decreases, small business increases. He urged, “We shoot ourselves in the foot when we marginalize small or micro businesses; they are what gives a community a sense of place and distinction.”
On a community level, Gines asked the audience, “Why does one community survive and the other does not?” The answer: leadership. Attendees had to think about the diversity of their leadership: age, race, gender, culture, values, etc. Gines also communicated the “5 C’s of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem:” capital, connection, capability, culture, and climate. All five C’s need to intersect to create a successful business owner in any given community.
Gines left participants with Federal Reserve resources that can be found here and information about the “Grow Your Own” guide.
Next up on the agenda was the “Ignite Session,” an interesting presentation style in which presenters are given five minutes to give their presentation and then the audience votes on which presentation they most enjoyed. Chris East with Cromwell Architects Engineers spoke about “Pop Up In The Rock,” a community development initiative that focuses on enhancing local city areas with underdeveloped potential. Britt Talent, editor of the Cleveland County Herald, presented Rison’s homesteading initiatives and talked about the Arkansas Homesteading Conference held in Rison. Then came Jerry Smith, President and CEO of the Morrilton Chamber of Commerce, who discussed Morrilton’s FUN committee – a committee that doesn’t focus on the “work” model of volunteering, but instead on a “fun” model to make volunteering an enjoyable, leisure time activity. Next up was Lamont Cornwell, Executive Director of Saline County Economic Development, to share Saline 2020, a visioning process and strategic plan for Saline county. Carla Vaught with the Polk County Cooperative Extension presented “Google, Banners, and Bears,” a report on how the city of Mena is learning, growing, and bettering itself. Our close friend Jon Chadwell, Director of the Newport Economic Development Commission, was the next presenter. Chadwell shared “New Vision Newport,” a leadership program developed by the Newport Chamber of Commerce that is designed to build team work, teach leadership skills, provide participants with community education, service opportunities, and results in creating the future leaders of Newport. The final presenter was Martie North of Simmons First National Bank. North talked about her journey as President of the Friends of Mosaic Templars Cultural Center and discussed with attendees how to build a board to make things happen.
Though each presentation seemed to be over in a millisecond, each was packed with rich and applicable information. It was tough to pick which presentation was the best, but when the votes were in the winner was (drum roll please)…. Britt Talent with Rison! Talent took the audience through a crash course on homesteading (an extremely unique way Rison has harnessed its assets to distinguish itself from other cities throughout Arkanas).
The man of the day, Dr. Mark Peterson, presented “Building Your Community’s Future Through Fresh Thinking and Bold Action” after the “Ignite Session” ended. Peterson combined lecture with interaction (REAL interaction, including asking the audience to stand up and touch their toes) to get the blood flowing before lunch. He began by presenting the audience with key questions about their communities such as: “Is the economic base of your community and region on solid ground,” “Do community leaders have a shared vision of the future of your community in the global economy,” “Is your community perceived by people outside your community as having a high quality of life and place,” and “Does your community/region have a pipeline of entrepreneurs who can and do start businesses?” He suggested creating an asset map to highlight differentiating factors in communities throughout the state and stressed the importance of:
- Maintaining momentum
- Harnessing balance and team work
- Challenging your community
- Avoiding distractions
- Realizing opportunities
Peterson left attendees with his keys to a successful community which revolved around leveraging assets, sharing the same vision, and displaying measurable results.
After lunch, the 2015 Breakthrough Solutions conference took an interesting turn – instead of experts in the field, we were exposed to high school aged, up and coming community leaders. Students from North Little Rock High School and Harrison High School shared their difference making community projects they developed through EAST programs. The North Little Rock students created the NLR Community Farm. The farm is run by students with the assistance of their facilitator and brings the community and school together. The NLR Community Farm is such a success it is impacting the student population in a big way; the food collected from the farm now goes to children in need within the district and helps educate students on healthy eating.
The Harrison students started their project by identifying a problem in the city of Harrison – specifically, a branding problem. The students recognized that Harrison, recognized as the home of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), was perceived as a racist community to many outsiders. They wanted to combat this negative image by sharing the real, accepting Harrison community with the outside world. The students launched a hashtag campaign, #IamHarrison, that went viral state-wide. The campaign created positive change and helped to break those negative perceptions.
After various breakout sessions (our team attended “Growing Entrepreneurs in Your Community” and “Engaging the Millennials in Your Community”), Breakthrough Solutions 2015 came to a close.
Upon completing this blog post, the magnitude of information packed into those two short days really hit me – my brain has once again become exhausted, but reliving the experience was well worth it. We can say with full certainty that the conference 100% completed its purpose, “to provide community and regional leaders with insights, tools, and solutions that they can use to create communities that are vibrant, sustainable, and resilient.”
Until next time, we tip our *virtual* hat to you and urge you to keep up with us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube!
