Strategic planning for our community is an ongoing effort for many people and organizations within our area. Earlier this month, we officially named the Chamber's 2-year project that has been driven by many throughout Chillicothe and Ross County. To show a vision of progress and to give a regional identity to our work, we now are using "Greater Chillicothe!" as our initiative name.

This title allows our area to highlight the enhancement of Ross County's future while we embrace its rich history. The initiative position statement says it best:

Greater Chillicothe! is a community effort to build upon Ross County's impressive place in history, its unique strengths, and its remarkable people, to create a continually better place to live, work, and visit. We work together to enhance our thriving downtown, leverage our amazing natural resources, and capitalize on our unique location in scenic southern Ohio. We strive to resolve our challenges by uniting our community and empowering it to take action. We promote a vibrancy of life through healthy living, a life-long love of learning, a strong work ethic, and genuine compassion for one another. We use these characteristics to welcome and embrace innovative companies, creative small businesses, and talented professionals.

I want to encourage others to embrace this effort. Through the work of a community strategic vision team, eight areas of priority have been named. Those include:

In recent months, stakeholder groups have been gathered to work on three of the strategic priorities; Park/Rec/Historic Places, Downtown Revitalization, and Economic Development. Those groups are making great progress in getting others to the table, crafting vision statements and coordinating efforts for benefiting outcomes. This quarter, emphasis has been to work with the priorities in Healthcare along with the Drugs, Addiction and Poverty. Those stakeholder groups are being guided by the A Partnership for a Healthier Ross County and the Heroin Partnership Project.

With any long-term vision project, it takes time to adopt policies, missions and outcomes. But we all have a stake in the future of a greater Chillicothe and Ross County. Working together, sharing ideas and striving to reach our long-term vision will certainly make for a Greater Chillicothe!

I encourage you, your business and employees to find ways to get involved. When looking to your future, let's all strive to reach the same outcome,

To build together a vibrant, thriving, friendly community which provides abundant opportunity and is nationally recognized as a top place to live, work and visit.

Enjoy your spring-like weekend, and always remember that if your Chamber staff can assist in any way, please stop by our office at 45 E. Main St. or give us a call at 740.702.2722.