Defining the Future Brochure (download pdf here)

Who Should Attend:

• Community and Business Leaders
• State and Local Officials
• Economic and Community Developers
• University Professionals
• Community and Regional Planners
• Chamber of Commerce Members
• Anyone Interested in Developing Leaders & Building a Successful Community

Registration Deadline: September 29
Registration: $175 Student Registration: $125
Registration includes:

• Seminars
• Awards Luncheon
• Refreshment Breaks
• Resource Room

Location:
Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center
201 Tallapoosa Street Montgomery, AL 36104 334-481-5000

For More Information:
Stacey Bryan, ACE 866-557-0007 info@alabamacommunitiesofexcellence.org
Anne Woodsmall, ACLN 334-844-5332 woodsma@auburn.edu

Would You Like to Learn:
• fundamental facilitation skills?
• a simple format for conducting regular updates of your Community’s Strategic Plan?

Join us for a 1½ day hands-on demonstration training
focusing on skills needed for
effectively facilitating a Strategic Plan Update

Featured Trainer: Carol Johnson, Continuous Dialog (www.cdialog.com)

Fill out the form below.

Checks, made payable to ACE, may be mailed to:
Alabama Communities of Excellence
PO Box 11749
Montgomery, AL 36111

Cost: $150 per person (covers seminar, first night’s lodging and meals)

Space is limited, so register now!!!

If you haven’t received a confirmation email within 72 hours, please call 866-557-0007.

This seminar is made possible through a grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.

Tom Hylton Keynote Speaker

1. Your community has recently been accepted for the 2009 Class of ACE participants. What are you hoping to achieve through the ACE process?

We are hoping to make our city a better place for our citizens to call home.

We also believe the process will make our city more appealing to retail developers.

We hope to become better to prepared to handle the growth that we expect in the future.

2. What was your first reaction when you learned your community would be part of the 2009 ACE Class?

I was very excited to learn that we had been selected to be part of the 2009 ACE Class.

3. As an ACE-sponsored participant of Your Town, how will you use the information you’ve learned during the Your Town workshop?

I will use what I learned at Your Town to work with our planning department to make our city a better place to live.

1. Your community has recently been accepted for the 2009 Class of ACE participants. What are you hoping to achieve through the ACE process?

We hope to enhance the process that started several years ago with our 2020 plan. We have many new players in the city and we look forward to the fresh objective input from the ACE partners.

2. What was your first reaction when you learned your community would be part of the 2009 ACE Class?

We are very excited and anxious to begin the process of assessing where we are and formulating plans to move to the next level of excellence.

3. As an ACE-sponsored participant of Your Town, how will you use the information you’ve learned during the Your Town workshop?

Two of the most important things I learned were:

1) Don’t assume that someone else will take the lead – if you recognize a need or an opportunity, don’t hesitate to step up to the plate and make a contribution – there is much to be done and;

2) In the process, solicit others and give away the credit to accomplish the goals! Your Town was a great exercise in how to do just that.

1. Your community has recently been accepted for the 2009 Class of ACE participants. What are you hoping to achieve through the ACE process?

Through the ACE process, we want to create a new vision for Arab’s growth and form a combined effort between city government, businesses and citizens to make the vision a reality. A Strategic Plan was completed in 2006, however, very few of the goals established have been completed and most of the citizens who were involved in creating the plan have lost interest. We always need new and fresh ideas for making our community a better place to live, work and play, and are hoping to find just that through the ACE process.

2. What was your first reaction when you learned your community would be part of the 2009 ACE Class?

We were very excited to learn that we had been selected for the ACE Program. This was our third time to submit an application, and it was great to know that we had been selected.

3. As an ACE-sponsored participant of Your Town, how will you use the information you’ve learned during the Your Town workshop?

I received a tremendous amount of information, ideas, and networking resources which are valuable in many ways. More than anything, I think the “I can do it” spirit which I gained during the Your Town workshop will help me to motivate others during the ACE process, and on into the future. After I returned, I helped launch a fund-raising effort for a restoration project at a Historic Cemetery located in our downtown area. We have already received over half of our needed amount to complete this project!

The break-out sessions were also helpful, and provided me with a clearer picture on how we need to begin the process of improving our community, by defining our vision, preparing a plan and building the perfect team to implement it. (Thanks Nisa!)

1. What has the Alabama Communities of Excellence (ACE) program meant to your community?

It has been a stimulus to involvement and communication for several citizens.

2. How are you using what you’ve learned from the ACE program in your community?

Through our ACE group we’ve sustained a newsletter for the town and birthed a new chamber of commerce. We are currently regrouping somewhat to enhance our efforts and improve our ACE program.

3. What do you consider to be the one most valuable part of the ACE program for your community?

Access to resources and talented people.

4. Do you have any recommendations for those communities just starting the ACE process?

Assemble a core group of dynamic, interested, optimistic citizens.

1. What has the Alabama Communities of Excellence (ACE) program meant to your community?

The ACE program has helped our city to begin developing an identity and focusing our resources to better serve our citizens rather than remaining complacent in our current situation.

2. How are you using what you’ve learned from the ACE program in your community?

As member of our Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors and a Steering Committee member for our city’s leadership program, I feel as though I have better sense of how to guide those interested in moving our city forward. Without this seminar, I think I would have been shooting in the dark when advising people on how they can help to improve our community. I have a better understanding of why some decisions have been made in the past, some ideas to improve our current situation and a vision of where our city can go in the future.

3. What do you consider to be the one most valuable part of the ACE program for your community?

One of the most valuable parts of being in the ACE program is being recognized throughout the state for our achievements. I also value the networking opportunities that participating in this program has provided. As a business consultant with the Women’s Business Center, I work in Monroeville, Brewton and Atmore also. I now have a better understanding of some of their internal struggles and hope that we can work together to create solutions for our communities.

4. Do you have any recommendations for those communities just starting the ACE process?

I would advise new communities not to discount their human resources. There are so many knowledgeable people in their community that want to help although they may not have the experience or a clear idea where they may fit into the program but be open to hearing new ideas and trying to visualize your community from the perspective of the everyday citizen not just those with the financial resources.

“I am telling everyone in my community that is interested in helping our city to move forward that they MUST attend Your Town Alabama next year. I never really understood everything that went into creating a successful community but this program opened my ideas to the challenges and opportunities as well as how to create solutions to the issues rather than just pushing them aside. I cannot thank you all enough for the opportunity.”