On Wednesday, September 15th of 2004, I was part of Morris Futures Vision session at the Morris Leadership Retreat in Grand Rapids, MN. I joined a group of 4 others on our interest in seeing the proposal of a Sports Complex go through.
Background Info:
The City of Morris has already approved a plan to build a municipal Sports Complex nearby the UMM Campus and MAHS. They plan to put it by the existing City's water tower that can be shared by both above parties (college and high school). However, the only question is where the money is going to come from. The City has already have their share of the money through a bond. But, the Campus doesn't have their share due to the past legislation (2004 Minnesota State Budget).
What we came up with?
We (Steve-facilitator, Jess, Gary, Jarrod, and I) discussed about the key stakeholders (people that have a large say on the whole issue); both the opposition and supporters. Then we made a list of steps to take to influence (timing is critical-Homecoming is key strategic time, research other sports complexes-see down below, open community meeting to hear all sides by inviting key people (stakeholders) in the community, etc..) both groups of this proposal. After our small group discussion, we got together as a whole group and discussed what we talked about. Other folks suggested some key social capital (contacts) within the 24 leaders in the room to connect with on our proposal. Lastly, our facilitators/trainers challenged us more on how do we know we reached the "critical mass" (final end of the project). I was listening to the local radio when they mentioned about a Sports Complex they plan to build in Aberdeen, South Dakota. I thought it was pefect timing of the message after a similar proposal was brought up at the recent "Morris Leadership Retreat".
Related Sites:
Sports Facilities