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            • What Is Your BIG BOLD IDEA For Our Community? 

            • *Submit your Big Bold Idea Now!

              The Question: We are looking for #BigBoldIdeas to help improve our community. If you were in charge of our community, what would your priorities be? To put it another another way, if you could focus our community’s attention on a key challenge or opportunity to help our community thrive, what would it be?
               
              The Concept: Big Bold Ideas is an ambitious, community-wide, civic improvement initiative. As a community, we will identify several specific and meaningful goals that build on our region's strengths; and then, together, advance those goals to make Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro an ideal place to live, work, and launch and grow a business. Done well, Big Bold Ideas will serve as a strategic plan for the years ahead. 
               
              The Goal: To make a substantial and positive impact on our community by gathering, selecting, and uniting around community-identified Big Bold Ideas. Big Bold Ideas must be measurable and accomplishable, objectives we are willing to work on but cannot accomplish by ourselves, and have a lasting and positive impact on our community.
               
              The Timeline:
              • February 2019: Introduced concept at The Chamber's Annual Meeting on February 1, 2019.
              • 1H19: Recruited Steering Committee and funding partners, designed process, built momentum.
              • *September 19, 2019: Launch Big Bold Ideas For a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro, including introducing Steering Committee and actively soliciting community ideas through Saturday, October 12, 2019.
              • November 7, 2019: Convene community conference with hundreds of delegates to select the three most outstanding Big Bold Ideas.
              • December 2019: Build business case for each Big Bold Idea (the “Why” and “Future,” and identify “Co-champions” (example).
              • January 2020: Discuss plan for each Big Bold Idea at The Chamber's 2020 Annual Meeting.
              • 2020 and beyond: Track progress, issue reports, and generate new ideas as we achieve original ideas.

              Background: The inspiration for this initiative is from the "Big 5 Initiatives" in Kansas City, where the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce led and continues to lead a similar process for their region. Their inaugural five big ideas were: 

              1. Make Kansas City America’s most entrepreneurial city
              2. Create a regional translational medical research institute
              3. Build on the existing “animal health corridor” by holding a world symposium on animal health
              4. Move UMKC’s Conservatory of Music and Dance from the main campus to downtown Kansas City
              5. Pinpoint an urban core redevelopment project in Kansas City to improve housing, employment, and crime statistics


              Contact: For questions, contact Chamber Vice President for External Affairs, Katie Loovis, at (919) 696-0781 (cell).