Support For Newark City School Levies

The Education Community Support Group Community Capitalism recently compiled results of a survey the community was asked to participate in through the Newark Advocate. There were a total of 331 Licking County residents who responded to the survey.

The report entitled "Support of the Levies for Newark City Schools" contains the information provided by 134 Newark respondents. Although the number of respondents is not large enough to be considered a valid representation of the voting population in the Newark City School district, it does contain useful information that can be used in planning for future levies.

Here are some interesting facts listed in the report:

• Of the 43 respondents who indicated that they currently have students in the Newark City School system, 81% said they typically vote YES on levies.
• 76% of the respondents who have children in private schools typically vote NO.

Top reasons given for voting NO:

1. Money wasted or not spent responsibly
2. My child is in private school or home schooled
3. School administration is done poorly
4. I cannot afford/fixed income
5. The quality of schools is poor

Top reasons given for voting YES:

1. To assure that kids get high quality education that they deserve
2. To improve the community and/or attract citizens and businesses
3. Education is important and critical to our kids and our future
4. My responsibility as a citizen and a graduate of NCS
5. State funding is not adequate

I want to thank the Community Capitalism Education Community Support Group for preparing this informative report. To view the complete report, go here.

Beautiful Day For A Picnic

Today was the Family Picnic for the people who have become involved with the Community Capitalism effort. It was a beautiful day for it. A big thank you to Tony Campolo for hosting today's picnic at his home. Everyone had a wonderful time.

Your Opinion Is Needed

The Young Professional/Talent "working group" of the Community Capitalism effort has requested your input on a number of topics. Go here to participate in this quick survey.

Seth Godin

Cultural Offering has a great post on an interview with Seth Godin.

I couldn't help but to think about our Community Capitalism effort when I listened to him describe why you should have a Tribe.

Community Capitalism - Next Steps

The schedule for the next round of committee meetings can now be viewed here.

For a complete recap of our progress so far, go here to view the interactive chart.

Thanks Jennifer!

Food Pantry Network

Thanks to all who attended the Community Capitalism event with author Ron Kitchens last week at The Midland Theatre. Attendees were asked to make a donation of money or food to the Food Pantry Network in Licking County.

I am pleased to announce that $277.00 was collected along with 34 pounds of food that evening.

Thank you, Licking County.

The Message WILL Be Heard By Many

Author of Community Capitalism, Ron Kitchens, is in town. Yesterday he met with the Licking County Commissioners and some small groups before taking the stage at The Midland Theatre last night. Read the story here. Today he is taking a tour of our county and will speak to the Newark Rotary Club.

In one of the small group meetings he touched on the importance of having a strong education system. We discussed the upcoming levy of the Newark City Schools and he said: "you need to pass this levy not just for the kids, but for good jobs and the economy." He told a story about a company who said they will only locate in a community that has a strong K - 16 program. He also mentioned the fact that you have to stop all the negativity; it will drive away business opportunities.

If you think voting no on a school levy is only sending a message to the school board and administration, you are dead wrong. That message will be carried much further. It will be heard by existing employers and ones who were looking to possibly locate here. It will be heard by families who want to live here, but are unable to find work. It will be heard by the college students at COTC, OSU-N and Denison University, who we are now asking to stay in the community instead of moving out of town or even out of state. And yes, it will be heard by all the children in the school system when they no longer have the classes or courses offered by many other schools in Licking County and around the state. But ultimately, the message will be delivered back to you, by the declining value of your property.

Do I think that by voting yes on the levy that all of our problems will disappear? Absolutely not. There are other issues we need to deal with. But what I am confident of is this: if we continue to turn our backs on our schools and end up with the state taking over, economic development will be dead in this community. And we will have no one to blame but ourselves.

I would prefer to send a different message to everyone. One that says we value education; we are a thriving community; we support and encourage industry and are known as a great place to live, work and raise a family.

That should be our message.

Education - Grassroots Meeting #1

Tonight I attended the first grassroots meeting on Education (see my previous post below). Turnout was high - about 70 people. This is not intended to be minutes of the meeting; those will come later, but there were some very interesting comments made that I thought are worth sharing tonight.

A CALL TO COLLEGE

Sarah Wallace gave the crowd a report on the program operated in the Newark City School system called A Call To College. It was started in 1991 and was based on a program in Columbus City Schools called I Know I Can. This program not only provides last dollar grants based on need to seniors at NHS, but it also walks students and parents through the financial aid process and paperwork and motivates students to stay in school and pursue secondary education. We are so fortunate to have this program in our community. With their help, last year an additional 2 million in aid, beyond what funds they contributed, was provided to local students for college. Kudos to Diane DeLawder for her leadership with this program.

FACTS ABOUT C-TEC PROVIDED BY RON CASSIDY

• In 2001, C-TEC enrollment was around 500; Today they are serving approximately 1600 students
• 50.4% of students that graduate from C-TEC enroll in secondary education
• Students can earn college credits to be used at COTC
• When a student enrolls at C-TEC, the school district they came from loses $5,400.00

NEWARK CITY SCHOOLS AND THE HEALING PROCESS

Keith Richards did an outstanding job taking us back in time to when Newark Schools was one of the premier school districts in the state, filled with rich tradition. He then jumped to 1997 when there was conflict in the community and the district asked for money with an income tax levy, which was successfully passed. A group of disgruntled citizens then fought hard to repeal two property taxes and won, taking away more funding than the 1997 income tax levy brought in. So basically, Newark City Schools is now operating with the same amount of money they had in 1998. Due to the repeal of the property taxes, Newark City Schools were forced to make substantial budget cuts. Those cuts ultimately ended up hurting the enrollment numbers, with over 750 students leaving the district in 1998.

Let's be honest. If anyone thinks that defeating school levies is about sending a message to the Administration and School Board members, and that it doesn't hurt the community, they are not living in reality. Families have to look out for the best interests of their children. If Newark Schools are not able to provide a quality education, we will lose them. And with them goes our current workforce and our future workforce, leaving behind a community that has declining property values and one that business and industry will overlook. Think about that. As a business owner, why would I want to locate in a community where I can't find the skilled workforce that is needed? Competition is already at an all time high with regards to attracting industry. If the State of Ohio ends up taking over our school system because our community refuses to financially support it, any interest in locating in Newark will dry up immediately. I have three children in the Newark school system and my hope is that they can continue to thrive there.

MENTORS ARE SORELY NEEDED

Some great comments were made on the need for mentors/tutors in the school system. Jennifer Utrevis and Steve Linham spoke on programs that are currently in place and how successful they have been. But as one woman stated: "Can we find mentors for parents?" That was a wow statement. And she is right. There are so many parents that need help and guidance from others and the community. She said even just a kind word of encouragement can go a long way, not only for students, but for adults as well.

Overall, I was very happy with the outcome of the first meeting. Many people signed up for the different working groups that have been established. The excitement and interest is still going. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Community Capitalism Update

Grassroots Meetings

After the three Town Hall meetings, 23 areas of interest/goals emerged. We categorized them into Education, Talent, Infrastructure/Capital and Place. Tonight is the first grassroots meeting focusing on Education. Tomorrow's meeting (Jan. 14) will focus on Talent; Jan. 15 is Infrastructure/Capital and Jan. 20 will be on Place. All these meetings are at 4:00 p.m. at C-TEC.

Our hope is that discussion will occur on what is currently being done in those individual categories and then talk about the areas of interest that have been defined. We are hoping that sub-groups will be formed around those areas of interest.

Town Hall Public Forum

On January 26, 2009 the author of Community Capitalism, Ron Kitchens, will be in town. Mr. Kitchens will be the guest speaker at the Town Hall Public Forum being held at The Midland Theatre beginning at 7:00 p.m. This event is open to the pubic and is free. We are asking everyone to bring a non-perishable food item or cash donation for the Licking County Food Pantry. Described by The Economist as "an energetic economic development leader," Mr. Kitchens is the Chief Executive Officer of Southwest Michigan First, as well as the General Partner of the Southwest Michigan First Life Science Fund. He will be speaking on how Kalamazoo, Michigan was revitalized. This event is co-sponsored by the Licking County Planning Commission and the Licking County Area Transportation System.

Stay tuned. . .

The Town Hall Report - Now What?

The Town Hall Meetings are over. 1,200 books have been distributed. The question is :

Now What?

The first step was to compile all of the comments made at the three meetings that pertained to our strengths and opportunities. That has been completed and can be viewed here.

Our next step was to sort through all this information and pull out the "strong areas of interest", in each of the six topics (Place, Capital, Infrastructure, Talent, Education and Downtown Newark - which was added due to the discussions).

We are now in one of the most critical areas of this project - recruiting the community to help in the areas that interest them. If you attended at least one of the Town Hall Meetings, you will soon be receiving a survey with all this information included. If you did not participate and would still like to be involved, please let me know and we will send you the information.

You can also join the Community Capitalism LinkedIn networking group at http://www.lc3network.com/

Stay tuned. There will be more to come.

In Your Own Backyard

In summarizing the information from the Town Hall meetings on Community Capitalism, it became so clear that Licking County is rich with assets located in our own backyard. Need a reason to enjoy life in Licking County? How about 40:

1. Midwestern/small town feel


2. Community support for one another


3. Close to Columbus/centrally located


4. Quality Hospital that has been recognized as a Top 100 in the nation


5. Downtown Newark Square


6. Licking County Courthouse


7. Licking River running through the downtown


8. Newark Public Library


9. The Dawes Arboretum


10. Indian Mounds


11. The Works


12. Bike Trails throughout the county


13. Unique towns like Granville and Buckeye Lake


14. Lost cost of living


15. Postcard city


16. Numerous golf courses


17. Home to the Longaberger Corporate Headquarters


18. Our many parks


19. Strong community service organizations (Rotary, Lions, etc.)


20. Good athletic opportunities (Babe Ruth, North Newark, etc.)


21. Y.M.C.A.


22. Flint Ridge State Memorial


23. Blackhand Gorge


24. Rotary Playground


25. Hartford Fair


26. Lou & Gib Reese Ice Arena


27. Lake Hudson


28. Cranberry Bog


29. Bike Path Bridges


30. Ye Old Mill


31. National Trails Raceway


32. Davis Shai House


33. Buckingham House


34. Bryn Du Mansion


35. Veterans Park


36. Cherry Valley Lodge and Water Resort


37. Granville Inn


38. Buxton Inn


39. Heath Water Park


40. Licking County's rich history

Community Capitalism - Town Hall Meeting 1

On November 11, the first of three Town Hall Meetings was held to discuss the book Community Capitalism. The meeting focused on our strengths and opportunities in six different areas. There is a summary for your review here.

Discussions in the first meeting centered around three areas:

1. Marketing - There were many comments made about the need to market what we have (our assets) to the people who live and work here.
2. Talent - The attendees recognized the need to keep both our skilled workforce and the future workforce in Licking County.
3. Education - A big part of the discussion centered around the three higher education institutions we have in Licking County: Denison University; Central Ohio Technical College (COTC) and The Ohio State University - Newark Campus. These are strong assets that are being overlooked by our residents.

The next two Town Hall meetings are scheduled for November 17 at 4:00 p.m. and November 18 at 7:00 p.m. at C-TEC. For more information or to register, call the Chamber at 740.345.9757.

It will be interesting to see what comes out of the next two meetings.

Community Capitalism - Update

Back in August of this year I wrote about a new book called Community Capitalism that was given to me to read (see my review here).

Hundreds of books have now been distributed, thanks to the Newark-Heath-Licking County Port Authority.

Town Hall Meeting

We are now asking everyone who received a copy to read the book and attend a Town Hall Meeting. They are being held on November 11, 7:30 a.m.; November 18, 4:00 p.m. and November 19, 7:00 p.m. at C-TEC. We are very fortunate to have Dave Brenner and Pat Jeffries as moderators. These meetings are being held to discuss the assets, possibilities and opportunities for our community.

The Economic Development Committee of the Chamber has been tasked with compiling the results of these meetings, so stay tuned. . .

How Are You Wired?

I was recently given a task to read a book "in the next few days" by one of my Board members. I love to read. The problem is that I don't have enough time to read everything that I would like to in a day or even in a week. But I knew this was important, so I began reading the book - Community Capitalism. It is a fairly short book, 111 pages in all. I have found the book to be very interesting and am grateful that he gave me a copy. (You will be hearing more about this book and how our community can benefit from it in the weeks ahead)

One of the chapters is on Talent. It used a quote from one of my favorite books - Good to Great: "People are not our most important asset. The right people are." - Jim Collins. In summary, the chapter focuses on how to build a "talent-driven organization", stating that what really mattered when hiring a person isn't necessarily what is on his or her resume, but how the person is "wired." The author, Ron Kitchens, suggests using these type of questions during the interview process:

• What are you passionate about in your work?


• On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being high, how would you and others know you well, rate your level of performance against your peers?


• In your work, what are you a "pro" at?
  
• Define and give me an example of how you go "above and beyond" in your work.


• How are you driven to meet and exceed customer expectations?

Another great quote in this book is this:

Talent is the product. With the right people, given the correct incentives, encouraged and driven to their highest individual accomplishments...you will adapt to most competitive challenges. You will weather more rain delays, bad ump calls, flat beers in the concession
stands and all routine disasters of the zero sum standings most organizations are facing. Talent is the product. - Jeff Angus