In response to further questions on Wednesday, March 28, 2012, by Jim Stratton, a reporter with the Orlando Sentinel, after he "spoke to some current and former elected officials, in reference to myregion.org ," I provided the following response, pointing him to several awards and recognitions recently presented to myregion. org , for its body of work. Stratton indicated those he spoke to questioned the achievements of myregion.org , saying it had generally produced very few tangible benefits, calling it a "'black hole’ for public money," and “producing beautiful reports with ‘no teeth.'"
One of the strengths of the Central Florida Region is the diversity of opinion shared by our Volunteer Leaders; this includes Volunteer Leaders in the Business, Government and Civic Sectors. As a result, finding a few "folks" that are less than supportive of myregion.org is no surprise; and it's no surprise either, that myregion.org continues to enjoy wide support from every corner of the Central Florida Region. By the way, myregion.org is designed to be a "safe place" for leaders of the Central Florida Region to explore "new ideas," its purpose is to conduct research; and to collect, analyze, and to make sense of complicated data and complex sets of perspectives; not to have "teeth." With limited resources, myregion.org is compelled forward by the power of good ideas; and is continuing to make new friends and build new relationships, unified by shared regional priorities.
Along these lines, sometimes it's necessary to "turn to others" to learn more about ourselves; with this in mind, I would point your attention to the incredible and tangible results evidenced by the body of work advanced by myregion.org. Specifically, shown below are several acknowledgements and recognitions recently received by myregion.org. As is sometimes the case, "folks" from other parts of our country and the world "looking in" can more clearly see the importance of our work than "folks" "looking out." For sure, when this list is carefully reviewed, it's difficult to think of myregion.org as a "black hole."
-
The Council for a Sustainable Florida selected Central Florida's "How Shall We Grow?" a project of myregion.org, as its 2007 winner in the category of The Sustainable Florida Partnership Best Practice Business Partnership Award. By the way "How Shall We Grow?" resulted in the creation of the Regional Growth Compact, adopted on August 10, 2007, and a continual source of inspiration and reference tool for the Central Florida Congress of Regional Leaders; focusing on the 4Cs – Conservation, Countryside, Centers and Corridors.
-
The Urban Land Institute Orlando District Council, honored "How Shall We Grow?" a project of myregion.org, as a "Champion of Sustainability," making a substantial and positive impact in the Central Florida Region in the areas of nature, the economy, our society and individual well being at their inaugural Land Use Excellence and Promise Awards in 2008.
-
Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) located in Central London, did a look back at the last decade asking: What difference have we made? In their review of global best practices, the Urban Design Team at CABE cited the 2009 Progress Report for the Central Florida Region "Where in the World Are We?" a project of myregion.org, as an example of how to best analyze information to gauge progress. Specifically highlighted is the analysis of the Central Florida Region's world position in terms of economics and quality of life.
-
In 2009, a progress report was published by myregion.org, produced in partnership with multiple regional organizations, funding partners and technical support teams; resulting in the publication of the 2009 Progress Report for the Central Florida Region "Where in the World Are We?" which is still used today as a benchmark and measurement by Cities and Counties across the Central Florida Region.
-
The creation of the Central Florida Regional Growth Vision and the launch of the Central Florida Congress of Regional Leaders, both initiatives of myregion.org, were showcased in a publication by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) as a leading example of effective collaborative leadership and coalition building. The organization published a report titled "Moving the Needle – Regional Coalitions as Catalysts for Sustainable Development" in June 2010.
-
In August 2010, the Alliance for Regional Stewardship (ARS) and the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE) recognized myregion.org as its first recipient of the "Ten Award" for Distinguished Achievement in Sustained Stewardship. The "Ten Award" was established by ARS to recognize organizations that demonstrate "ambitious and steadfast advancement of regional stewardship over of a period of at least ten years."
-
The Central Florida Partnership was recognized in the winter edition of Chamber Executive Magazine, a publication of the America Chamber of Commerce Executive (ACCE), as an Innovator for more than a decade for its work in making regional stewardship a reality in Central Florida, specifically citing the many accomplishments of myregion.org
-
Most recently, the work of myregion.org was used as the foundation of the recently adopted East Central Florida 2060 Plan authored by the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council, in August of 2011. The goals of this plan are to inform and guide local decision making in a manner that leads toward the implementation of the Central Florida Regional Vision, a "product" of myregion.org; powerful and tangible evidence of the important work and success of myregion.org. In addition, the Long Range Transportation Plan recently adopted by MetroPlan Orlando, which connects transportation and land use planning, used the work of myregion.org as a "foundation" for its 2030 Long Range Plan.
As a point of information a statement of fact, the work of myregion.org has built an important library of resources for the Central Florida Region and for those regions across the nation and the globe seeking best practices; these research studies have been regionally focused and professionally conducted to help formulate regional strategies on a number of critical topics; and, have always been available for reference and review by anyone and everyone at myregion.org.
Jacob V. Stuart
President
Central Florida Partnership
