Breakthrough Solutions
Testimonials
I would like to offer a testimony to the community leaders with
whom we have worked, to our Breakthrough Solutions Partners, and
Extension colleagues whose vision, creativity and hard work have
made a real difference in their communities and the state of
Arkansas. It has been a privilege and blessing to work with them.
Mark Peterson,
Professor –
Community and Economic Development
U of A Cooperative Extension Service
“You are to be congratulated for your recognition to the CD
Practice. Breakthrough Solutions has quickly gained national
attention as an approach towards achieving greater community
vitality.”
Dave Ivan, Michigan State
University Extension Community Development Specialist and Co-Chair
National Innovative Community Development Program Initiative
“Breakthrough Solutions is considered one of the most
cutting-edge programs in the field because it extends beyond the
usual visioning process and stimulates fresh thought to get
communities out of comfortable ruts. Breakthrough Solutions
incorporates asset-based work and innovative tools to break beyond
boundaries.”
Gisele Hamm, Awards Committee
Chairperson
Community Development Society
"This (the Breakthrough Solutions Program) is necessary. It is
absolutely necessary. The work – I draw a parallel to the work of
Peter Senge at MIT at the Sloan School of Management. What Peter
Senge has done in his creating learning organizations is to bring
together the best ideas from all kinds of corporations and share
them and exchange them. And that’s what you are doing. You are
bringing these things to these communities. They have got to have
these things. They have to have these raw materials. They don’t have
the time to read and study on their own. It’s just not possible. So
this is an invaluable source – this is just terrific for these
places. Thank you for all the work you do here in Arkansas. As you
know, I call on you to help us in Mississippi on a regular basis."
Dr. Vaughn Grisham, Director,
McLean Center for Community Development
University of Mississippi, and author of four books on community
development
“One of the biggest advantages is that people are sitting down
and talking. It has got people talking and planning for the future.
The thing that comes to mind – I think the downtown business
association has been wonderful, because since Main Street is no
longer active, there has been no group to guide their effort.
That has been a huge, huge effort that came from the Breakthrough
solutions program. There is increased excitement about the downtown
area. That is a result of C.O.R.E. and the Breakthrough Solutions
Program. It is more of an attitude. The momentum in a football game
– you can feel the momentum change.”
Nita Cooper, County Extension
Agent – Staff Chairperson
Boone County Cooperative Extension Service, Harrison, Ark.
“For the past 20 years, the University of Memphis has hosted the
Mid-South Planning and Zoning Institute that is designed to
introduce local citizen leaders, professional planners and elected
officials with “best practices” in a wide range of policy areas
related to local economic and community development. This past
spring we had the good fortune of having Dr. Mark Peterson from the
University of Arkansas as the keynote speaker for our conference.
Dr. Peterson’s address which was entitled, “Strategic Planning for
Economic Success – The Breakthrough Solutions Model” offered a
compelling critique of mainstream economic development models and
presented an elegant system for pursuing a strategic planning-based
approach to sustainable development.
Dr. Peterson’s 45-minute presentation offered conference
participants a clear analysis of global economic trends affecting
small-, medium- and large-sized cities; a critique of various
single-pronged development strategies; and a powerful argument for a
holistic approach to economic development based upon local assets.
Dr. Peterson’s keynote address helped conference attendees place
their local economic development efforts within a larger regional,
national and global context enabling participants to identify and
discuss innovating policy and program development options they had
previously not identified. I strongly recommend Dr. Peterson as a
speaker, facilitator and resource person for any local community
seeking to explore empirically-driven innovative policies to
sustainable growth. His contribution to the 2009 Mid-South Planning
and Zoning institute was, in short, invaluable!”
Kenneth M. Reardon, Ph.D.
Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in City and Regional
Planning
University of Memphis
"This [Breakthrough Solutions] would be very helpful to
communities. Community leaders understand the challenges; this would
catch their attention and move them forward. It would get them
thinking about how they can position themselves in an increasingly
competitive environment. At the same time, [Breakthrough Solutions]
addresses the soft side of leadership skills that are necessary for
collaboration within and across community boundaries.”
Manoj Juneja, Director, Office
of Programs, Budget and Evaluation,
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
"The insights you have provided [from Breakthrough Solutions] for
marketing the UAF Genesis Technology Incubator are awesome."
Bootsie Ackerman, Executive
Director,
Downtown Fayetteville Partnership and Chairperson,
Genesis Technology Incubator Marketing Committee
“Our communities are facing real challenges with this economic
downturn and community leaders need programs like Breakthrough
Solutions to challenge us, open our minds, and help us reinvent
ourselves to succeed in this tough environment.”
Jeff Pipkin, Director of the
Arkansas Valley Alliance for Economic Development
President and CEO of the Russellville Area Chamber of Commerce
“It [Breakthrough Solutions] is an eye-opening experience. You
have opened our eyes to the potential. It would have a tremendous
impact to anyone who is interested in growing their business.”
Theodis Duckworth, D and R
Catering, Forrest City
“WOW, that's what I feel like now; thank you so much for
your friendship and taking 3 hours out of your time. That was such a
blessing!!! WOW, BIG BIG help!! Your step-by-step planned
presentation that you use helps individuals like myself to think and
to react and know what can be done with my business, that thinking
by yourself sometimes never develops. This process is one-on-one and
very helpful. I look forward to the next step.”
Keith Petersen, President and
CEO, CL Creative Lines
Breakthrough Solutions Workshop at the Community Development
Institute
"The most meaningful aspect was meeting [and] interacting with
such a great group of individuals and sharing experiences. Mark,
Darlene, Jeff and Maureen did a fantastic job of going through a lot
of material in a very short time. Using the make-believe town and
characters was a clever way to get everyone thinking "out of the
box". I have already begun applying much of what I learned within my
work – especially the "fish market" philosophy. The results are all
positive and we are trying some of the "exercises" to help us with
our own "Breakthrough Solutions". I appreciated the opportunity to
participate in this pilot effort and look forward to the CD."
Susan Henderson, Owner – Petit
Jean Realty, Morrilton, Ark.
"Breakthrough Solutions provide me with the tools to approach my
community about information technology and the global economy, which
I didn't have before. It was a wonderful refresher course; it was
awesome."
James Crider, President and CEO,
Jefferson County Economic Development Alliance,
Pine Bluff, Ark.
"You have saved me a year in researching how to create a
consortium of colleges and universities in the nation."
Dr. Henry Morris, Executive
Director of the Institute for Creation Research in North Santee,
Calif.,
after a three-hour work session on Breakthrough Solutions.
Focus Garland County: "Ten principles should be integrated into
every high school. Too often, we’re exposed to the process of change
too late. Make a video! Put it on a downloadable CD! Let me bear the
flag!"
Rebecca McCormick,
Independent Business Writer, Hot Springs, Ark.
Pre-Conference Workshop Community Development Society Workshop
– Ithaca, N.Y.
"The value of the seminar, in my view, is that the 10 principles
for strategic leadership offer an integrated framework in organizing
CD ideas. I will use this to help organize my community development
course; it is a rich framework. I will say that Peterson, Rose, and
Garrett are doing some innovative stuff! This is an outstanding
learning opportunity for beginners and experienced people in
community development."
John J. Gruidl, Director– Peace
Corps Fellows Program in C.D.,
Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, Western Illinois University,
Macomb, Ill.
VISION 2010
"The most important impact of VISION 2010 on our community has
been a sense of taking control of our future. After reeling from the
blow of 700 jobs lost from the Brown Shoe plant closing in 1996, our
Randolph County community needed a structure to pull us together and
develop a sense of concerted planning for a positive future. VISION
2010 has helped enormously in achieving a focus that all have input
and that an emerging consensus for an exciting 21st century is
attainable."
Harmon Seawel, Former Majority
Leader,
Arkansas House of Representatives,
Former Superintendent of Maynard Public Schools,
and Randolph County VISION 2010 Leadership Team Member
"VISION 2010 is an absolutely invaluable opportunity for any city
that is short on staff, short on strategic type of thinking. People
come to grips with the future in a very organized way."
Former Mayor Dean Fladager,
Gravette, Ark.
Testimonials from County Extension Agents
"I never realized the impact of these projects would be so great.
We began to track down the value of the projects completed in the
last five years, and it really impressed me."
Berni Kurz, Washington County
Extension Agent – Staff Chair
(reflecting on his experience with VISION 2010 in Crawford County)
"VISION 2010 has made a huge impact on Mena. I can’t say enough
good about VISION 2010."
Terrie James, Sevier County
Extension Agent –
Family and Consumer Science
"VISION 2010 did a tremendous job of bringing the whole county
and community [Hot Springs] together, where usually the county has
one set of goals and the community has another. They were all
working together.
The county-city split is a major hurdle in many counties because
they normally have different goals. But VISION 2010/Focus Garland
County bridged the gap. A lot of rural people don’t want change, and
cities want tremendous change. This came about because they came
together to understand it was all one picture."
Jimmy Driggers, Garland County
Extension Agent –
Staff Chair
"It (VISION 2010) was a very worthwhile planning process for our
community. It helped us look into the future and see what is needed
and what we could do. The things that came from the vision fair –
many of them are being worked on now. The city is working on some,
the county is working on some, and a new group is working on some.
A lot came from it, and will continue to come from it. I have
shared a lot of the material from the VISION 2010 notebook with the
new economic development group, and they have used it – it is a
solid process. Foremost on the list was concern for the courthouse.
There are now several groups working on grants. They got $210,000
from the state legislature for it.
It is so important to get the people involved. There was
discussion about passing a 1-cent sales tax to hire an economic
developer. The newspaper editor said, "There is no need to do this –
you [the VISION 2010 group] have already done it."
Sheila Brandt, Logan County
Extension Agent –
Staff Chair
"A lot of things have been done as a result of VISION 2010. A lot
of new people have become involved. The biggest thing that VISION
2010 did for the community was to bring a lot of groups together.
The result has been the youth complex, teamwork started happening,
and people took notice and became involved. It made out city
government realize how important the youth complex was, so they
bought the land."
Carla Vaught, Polk County Extension Agent –
Staff
Chair
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