GRAVETTE -- About 40 citizens from Gravette, Hiwasse and Sulphur Springs gathered at the Greater Gravette Chamber of Commerce office Tuesday evening, Nov. 1, for a Chamber-sponsored meeting regarding the Gravette 2030 vision. Chamber president Steve Harari, working with Mayor Kurt Maddox, has for several months been formulating a long-term vision for the future of the city. He scheduled this meeting to gain input from area citizens about what their vision for the future might be.
Harari welcomed those present and outlined the timeline he had created. He said the Vision 2030 plan should be a useful guide for the city. His aim is to publish a printed document in February 2023, then publish a review every year. The plan has been reviewed with the mayor, the city council and the planning commission, and a steering committee has been selected with members from all walks of life. Committee members plan to meet six times a year. They will work on building a process and framework for shaping and guiding the future development of Gravette and the surrounding area.
Harari introduced Mayor Maddox, who said the city is working on updating zoning regulations and has been revising its land use plan. He said the city must establish a mission, "determining who we are"; a vision, "where we're going"; and a strategy, "how will we get there?"
Keynote speaker for the evening was John Newby, of Pineville, Mo., author of Building Main Street, Not Wall Street, a column that appears in more than 60 community newspapers around the country. He shared with the audience a quote from Helen Keller, "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight with no vision." He outlined several common obstacles and excuses which sometimes prevent cities from making progress. He said it is good to have constructive criticism but a city should "kick out the naysayers," for there is no place for negativity.
Excitement sells vision, Newby said, so a city should break up its vision into small increments and work on getting community members enthused about them. He pointed out that the biggest problem facing many cities is the loss of members of the younger generation who are moving away to pursue opportunities in larger areas. If their home city doesn't have what they want, they will seek it elsewhere. He advised city leaders to "be unique. Be bold. Don't compete. Find your niche and develop it."
Newby pointed out that, in order to grow, a city cannot just please local people but must have something to attract more people, more dollars, from outside the area. He stressed the importance of spending locally versus spending in big box stores or online, saying each dollar spent in one's downtown returns $1.30 to the community. "Your downtown is what sets you apart," he told city leaders, and suggested they determine where the city should invest for the greatest return.
"You are going to get growth," he concluded, " but you will need to manage it."
Following Newby's talk, Harari conducted a brainstorming session for about an hour in which those in attendance shared their vision of what the city of Gravette would be like in 10 years and what they would like to see happen in that time span. The discussion was divided into 10 focus areas, core values, what do we want to be known for?, schools, parks and recreation, housing, population (now about 4,100), job base (now around 1,500), Main Street, Hiwasse and the I-49 interchange.
The next Vision 2030 meeting will be held in February 2023 and will be open to the public. In the meantime, those who did not attend the meeting or would like to offer additional input may do so on the 2030 community input survey now available on the GravetteChamber.com Homepage, the city Facebook page or by going to the survey link https://www.surveymonkey/r/G2030input. The survey will be conducted through December 15.
The meeting concluded with drawing for a gift card, won by Mike Larsen of Sulphur Springs, and Harari thanked all those in attendance.
Westside Eagle Observer/SUSAN HOLLAND
John Newby, author of Building Main Street, Not Wall Street, a column which is published in over 60 communities, speaks to citizens attending the community input meeting sponsored by the Greater Gravette Chamber of Commerce Tuesday evening, Nov. 1. Newby noted some of the common obstacles and excuses that prevent a town from growing and gave several suggestions for improving a city's downtown area.