Scranton and Wilkes-Barre are both quarterfinalists in the America's Best Communities sponsored by Frontier Communications.
WHAT IS IT?
Frontier Communications, DISH and our partners are investing in your power and potential. We're calling on communities to show us why you're America's Best: connected to your sense of place and committed to its economic vitality. Demonstrate your entrepreneurial spirit and we'll help make your vision a reality. The towns that achieve tangible economic impact will vie for cash prizes of up to $3 million
TIMELINE:
Quarter Finalist Round: Up to 50 Quarter-Finalists WHICH INCLUDE Scranton and Wilkes Barre received: $35,000 and support to define their vision and to develop a plan to put into motion and a GoPro camera to share their stories along the way.
Both Wilkes Barre and Scranton have to Complete a Community Revitalization Plan focused on economic development
1. Obtain $15,000 of community matching funds
2. Present a 7-month budget outlining the use of cash award and community matching funds
3. Create a budget proposal of $100,000 for possible 11-month implementation of the Community Revitalization Plan
4. Provide video and blog submissions to report progress
Semi Finalist Round: January 13, 2016
Up to 15 Semi-Finalists will be announced and get an invitation to the America's Best Communities Summit where the strongest plans will be presented to the judges.
Finalist Round: April 15, 2016
Up to 8 Finalists will be announced and awarded $100,000 to bring their plans to life and 11 months to implement the tactics outlined in the Community Revitalization Plan.
Winners: Grand Prize winners will receive the following cash awards:
First Place: $3 million
Second Place: $2 million
Third Place: $1 million
An original outdoor mural depicting the vibrancy and resiliency of their community painted by a locally identified artist
A sign identifying the city as an America's Best Communities winner
August 2015 UPDATE: SCRANTON
The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, teaming up with a range of civic groups, is creating a downtown strategy that could unlock grant money from the America's Best Communities program and give the city a path toward cultivating a more vibrant downtown.
Hoping to leverage the growing education and medical sectors, and the burgeoning ranks of downtown dwellers, the chamber-led effort will explore ways to make the downtown region more inviting to local residents and companies looking for a home.
The plan is to solicit input from the community and develop a draft plan in September.
Details on the plan will emerge following the series of public meetings. However, one key to the success of a modern downtown is the ease of walking and riding a bicycle, said Robert Durkin, president of Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce. They'll be talking to the Lackawanna Heritage Valley about establishing a clearer tie-in between downtown and the Lackawanna River Heritage Valley Trail, a favorite of pedestrians and bicyclists.
“Today's worker wants and needs a vibrant environment,” Mr. Durkin said.
Scranton's mentor is Campbell's Soup. The two were teamed up because Campbell's took a leading role in revitalizing its hometown of Camden, N.J., Like Scranton, it played up the city's medical sector.
To capture the eds and meds activity, one has to expand what is traditionally thought of as the downtown, Mr. Durkin admitted, to incorporate more neighborhoods, the trail and other assets on the other side of the river, and the hospitals and key medical offices.
“The reality is you have to have a path and goals and outcomes that are measurable,” said Mark Volk, chairman of the chamber board and president of Lackawanna College.
While the effort is multifaceted, Mr. Durkin said the chamber views it as economic development. Aspects of the final plan, he said, will be divided among participants, including the chamber, the city, or other entities, who will take responsibility for implementing those aspects that make sense for them. The tendency among economic development agencies is to act in terms of individual projects, Mr. Durkin said, not necessarily with a grand vision or toward a goal.
Positive things are happening in downtown Scranton, Mr. Volk said, and the competition effort is a way to harness that momentum.
The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce hosted its third public brainstorming session as it seeks to be one of America's Best Communities and a grand prize as high as $3 million.
Words like “vibrant” and “lively” were repeated again and again from chamber officials, representatives from key area institutions, and a few curious citizens who deliberated over how to cultivate the positive aspects in their expanded Electric City's downtown.
John Cosgrove, of Condron & Cosgrove, emceed the community engagement component of the process that has the chamber angling for grants to implement the goals to be developed this year. There will be a total of six public sessions to be held through September before the application is submitted to the private competition. The effort, under chamber unit MetroAction, has the broad goal of leveraging educational and medical assets in the city to promote economic development.
Chris Kilner, a student at the University of Scranton and native of Rockville, Maryland, offered the perspective of the generation the effort seeks to capture. He said he would like to see professional work opportunities, particularly in the summer. He made the case for walk ability, saying that housing close to employment would generate growth, citing suburban D.C. communities where urban dwellers don't need to own vehicles.
Once the application is submitted, the participants hope to be among eight to receive $100,000 and then one of the finalists to receive between $1 million and $3 million to fund implementation.
Should the effort not earn the $1 million-plus prize, organizers say the community will have a solid planning document to guide the downtown.
Follow Scranton on their mission to win here: https://www.facebook.com/ABCScranton
August 2015 UPDATE: WILKES BARRE
Downtown Wilkes-Barre is on its way to becoming one of America's Best Communities! Our road map is a new Downtown Action Plan, developed with extensive collaboration and community participation.
This post highlights one of our Plan's six goals: to “position Downtown Wilkes-Barre as the region's Innovation District.” They have a small existing cluster of startup and technology firms - but we they know that, by building on those assets and connecting the dots, they say they can accomplish much more for the community.
Wilkes Barre has moved aggressively to advance the “Innovation District” goal during the past few months, facilitating business expansion, new startups, and collaboration with local colleges and universities.
It began in March, when Wilkes University opened the Wilkes Enterprise Center in a downtown building. The WEC now houses 9 separate startup ventures - a mix of student-run firms and those commercializing faculty research - and it's adding more, including several non-Wilkes startups that will become part of the network.
The WEC is a few doors away from the Innovation Center (ICWB) - the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber's incubator. In May, Penn State awarded the Chamber a $50,000 grant to create a shared “entrepreneurial lab” in the ICWB, and in June, anchor tenant eBay Enterprise, which began as a two-person ICWB startup, expanded its offices to occupy the entire third floor. This and five new tenants brought ICWB occupancy to 92 percent, with a workforce of 140. The ICWB's success even generated a July visit from Pennsylvania's Secretary of Labor and Industry.
A third piece of the equation is “King's on the Square,” which transformed a former downtown hotel into a new home for King's College's health sciences programs. Most recently, The Commonwealth Medical College planted its flag in Downtown Wilkes-Barre, taking space in King's on the Square to serve as the home of its Behavioral Medicine program.
Now, the networking between Downtown's academic institutions, startup firms, and established businesses has begun. Properly nurtured, it will produce new jobs, tax revenue, investment, and downtown activity that can benefit our city and our region. Wilkes Barre is excited about what's happening in their Downtown “Innovation District”.
The Chamber is excited to begin the ABC partnership with Penn State Wilkes-Barre's BA 321 Class! While learning effective business and communication skills, Penn State Wilkes-Barre students will educate and engage the community, non-profits, businesses, and students from local colleges in the competition.
Follow Wilkes Barre on their mission to win here: http://blog.wilkes-barre.org
