Community Appeals Workshop

GROW South Dakota invites community organizations, municipalities, and county government representatives to attend a Community Appeal Workshop on September 10-11, 2014, at the Aberdeen Ramada Hotel and Convention Center.  This free community event is sponsored by The Bush Foundation and Northeast Council of Governments.  To register for this training event please click here.
 

Craig Schroeder, Director of Youth Engagement at the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship, and Milan Wall, Co-Director of Heartland Center for Leadership Development will provide an interactive workshop that focuses on the regional issues of mindset and workforce/people attraction which are a starting point to addressing other key factors affecting our region. 
 

The workshop outline will cover the following topics:
 

• Clearly identifying our strongest people attraction assets based on the region's community capitals framework.
• Defining the target market that is most interested in what we have to offer.
• Creating a compelling brand and message that authentically conveys our strongest assets to the target market.
• Recruiting and training community ambassadors to host people who express interest in visiting or moving to our community or region.
• Engaging with alumni and potential newcomers, emphasizing our target market, and staying connected with them to determine their hometown needs.
• Proactively welcoming new residents and inviting them to become involved as active citizens and leaders.
   

The majority of the workshop will actively engage the participants in working through a series of activities on the above topics. Then building on these activities, participants will engage in the creation of community/regional action plans for recruiting and training community ambassadors. Each of the activities will be conducted with small group dialog using worksheets and group feedback to guide the participants along the path from an awareness of opportunities to action plans with defined next steps to move their work forward.
 

Schedule of Events:

September 10, 2013 - 1:00 pm-6:00 pm | Community Appeal Workshop (dinner will be served) and Introducation to Prairie Idea Exchange by Dakotafire Media

September 11, 2013 - 8:00 am-12:00 pm |Community Appeal Workshop (Building Action Plans)

 

All events will be held at the Ramada Hotel & Convention Center of Aberdeen.  A block of rooms has been reserved for those attendees needing overnight accommodations.  Please mention GROW South Dakota when you are registering to receive the special event rate. For hotel reservations call (605) 225-3600.
 

If you have additional questions regarding the Community Appeal Workshop, please contact Paula Jensen at GROW South Dakota by email, paula@growsd.org, or by phone at 605-698-7654 Ext 133.
 

GROW South Dakota strives to reach rural communities to improve the quality of life through housing, community and economic development.  Historically, these organizations have invested over $50 million in housing development and $54 million in economic development.  For more information about GROW South Dakota’s housing and business development programs and services please visit our website at www.growsd.org or call 605-698-7654.