Beginning with a vision, Greater Louisville Inc., the regional chamber of commerce, and the Regional Leadership Coalition are launching design work for an economic development strategy that will carry the 26-county Louisville region through the next decade.
“The Greater Louisville Region will become the idea capital of the world, where imaginations and all individuals thrive.”
That’s the statement that emerged from two days of work by 150 business, government, non-profit and civic leaders engaged in exercises designed to tap into the region’s highest aspirations.
Next step: to test that notion out with people and groups throughout the region, honing and refining it as the foundational statement for the region’s strategy for the future.
Over the next months, organizations and groups throughout the region should have the opportunity to comment on the vision – and engage in the work to develop strategies for carrying it out.
A dozen years ago, the equivalent process produced the plan to focus on economic niches in logistics, healthcare, and manufacturing and build up Louisville’s supports for entrepreneurs and business startups. It also called for the merger of city and county government – and many major planks in the strategy, including that one, were accomplished.
Now is the time to get involved in the hard work of figuring out how to build up Louisville’s talent base, grow more 21st Century jobs, and improve the “quality of place” that defines the region.