Breakthrough Solutions
Testimonials
Breakthrough Solutions
• VISION 2010 •
County Extension
Agents
For Breakthrough Solutions:
"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, Author of four books on
community development and
Director,
McLean Center for Community Development, University of Mississippi
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, AR
"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.
"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, AR
"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, CA,
after a 3 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, AR
Pre-Conference Workshop Community Development Society Workshop - Ithaca, NY
"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, IL
For 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 twenty-first 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, AR.
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 5 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 Chairman
"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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