Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Chamber, Agenda 360 win national award

The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and its Agenda 360 regional strategic action plan beat four other finalists to win the 2009 Organizational Championship Award, presented by the Alliance for Regional Stewardship (ARS) at the ARS Regional Strategies Forum last week in Raleigh.

Established in 2004, the Organizational Champion Award recognizes regions, regional alliances, and regional leaders that show dedication, commitment, and excellence in the four ARS principles of regional stewardship: an innovative economy, livable communities, social inclusion, and collaborative governance.

The award is the highest honor bestowed by the ARS.

Unveiled in February, Agenda 360 is designed as a framework for transforming the metropolitan area into a leading region for talent, jobs, and opportunity by 2020.

The core of the plan includes the addition of 150,000 people ages 20 to 34 to the region's workforce, the addition of 200,000 net new jobs, and the elevation of incomes to a minimum of 250 percent above the federal poverty level for all households.

"Their application said 'Talent, Jobs, and Economic Opportunity for all who call our region home,'" said F. Michael Langley, immediate past chair of the ARS advisory board and member of this year's awards committee. "That's the commitment it takes to drive regional success, and that is what Agenda 360 has accomplished in designing, developing and implementing their regional action plan. It was clear in reviewing their submission and researching their progress that the Cincinnati region 'totally gets it' and through their current leadership and intergenerational focus on diversity and talent, will be a globally competitive region for the foreseeable future."

Last month, Agenda 360 created Council 360, a team of leaders from the civic, business, and educational sectors charged with putting the plan into action.

These leaders will attend an orientation session on August 19, and will soon begin recruiting others to join the six Agenda 360 priority teams.

Previous reading on BC:
Agenda 360 announces council to implement regional action plan (7/21/09)
Agenda 360 named finalist for national award (7/13/09)
Agenda 360 in OTR tonight (2/7/08)