A partnership between the City of Worthington, Worthington Schools and the Worthington Libraries
(Worthington, Ohio) — The City of Worthington, Worthington Schools and the Worthington Libraries are collaborating on a future planning initiative to gather community feedback on current issues, values and concerns affecting the greater Worthington community. The goal of this collaboration is to use the information collected to support each organization's strategic planning and to identify potential opportunities for future partnership among the organizations to effectively address community needs.
Since each of our organizations plays a key role in shaping a desired future for the greater Worthington community, we will cooperatively gather feedback from residents in a process that includes multiple opportunities for people to get involved and share their ideas. Working with the consulting firms of Management Partners and Communicā, the partners will conduct both qualitative and quantitative research through a series of focus groups and in-depth telephone interviews. The research is intended to assess community perceptions and satisfaction with each organization, identify unmet needs or desires among the community regarding services and offerings and determine how residents prioritize and value different services offered by each organization.
The project will culminate with a community wide Visioning Conference, when approximately 100 participants will spend two days together to articulate a desired future for the Worthington community. Virtual and/or physical open houses will also be held to provide an opportunity for additional stakeholders to comment on the community vision. Upon the completion of the visioning project, the schools, libraries and City will develop individual strategic plans in support of the community vision.
The process will be guided and supported by a Steering Committee made up of members of the Worthington community, which will provide community perspective and serve as a sounding board for the initiatives and goals identified during the planning process.
The focus groups and telephone survey are expected to be conducted this summer and fall with the Visioning Conference taking place in early 2010.
For more information on the Community Visioning Initiative, please contact any of the following:
- Anne Brown, City of Worthington
(614) 854-7173 or brown@ci.worthington.oh.us - Lisa Fuller, Worthington Libraries
(614) 807-2604 or lfuller@worthingtonlibraries.org - Vicki Gnezda, Worthington Schools
(614) 883-3012 or vgnezda@worthington.k12.oh.us
