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A Focused Future

Focused Future is a program used throughout rural Arizona in dozens of communities. Working with the citizens and leadership of the community, the program takes a comprehensive look at economic and community development and then creates a strategic plan to guide decisions and activities for at least the next five years.

While the program and plan development process focus on creating employment opportunities, promoting business growth, and attracting new businesses to the area, it looks much more comprehensively at enhancing the entire community. Successful communities must also proactively address quality of life issues, workforce preparation, and organizational effectiveness.

The Page Focused Future strategic planning process encompassed twelve meetings over a twelve-month period. A local Action Team was assembled to complete this task.

The Action Team represented many different segments of the community that had a working knowledge of the area. This was important to help ensure the results of the process truly reflected what the citizens of Page wanted for the future.

Action Team members included residents, students, and business people with additional representation from the City of Page, Chamber of Commerce, Main Street Program, National Park Service, Coconino County, Salt River Project, the Navajo Nation, educational institutions, and tourism industry. The action Team members will start the implementation of the plan.

The Page Focused Future Strategic Plan for Community and Economic Development was designed to take steps toward developing Page into a truly special community. Many of the facets of this desired destination are already in place, tremendous natural beauty and recreation opportunities, location in the prospering Southwestern United States, a multi-cultural regional population, and a strong reputation as a tourism destination. If these facets were all it took to reach "greatness," Page would have already arrived. However, there are several additional facets that need to be addressed and this is why the Focused Future program was initiated. They are:

Human Resource Development – Enhancing the quality of the local workforce is a major challenge requiring leadership development, on-the-job training, vocational education, and technical training.

Organizational Development – Strong local organizations are required to achieve goals in human resources, community, and economic development.

Community Development – Local residents and organizations need to enhance the attractiveness, physical infrastructure, and social capital of the community.

Economic Development – Help create jobs by retaining local businesses and industry, helping existing firms to expand, recruiting new firms, helping entrepreneurs get started, and promoting tourism.

Page has been in the community and economic development arena for many years. The City has provided funding assistance to the Chamber of Commerce and tourism promotion efforts, created and financed the Main Street Program, and developed infrastructure to support business and industry to improve quality of life. However, there has never been a time when all of the organizations involved in the community’s development had an absolutely clear picture of where they stood in relation to one another and exactly what was expected of them.

In order for Page to reach its potential as a community with a sustainable, prosperous economy and superior quality of life, the old ways of doing business must be changed. This is not to say that there have not been successes in the past and that tremendous individual and group efforts have not been put forth. Changing the way business is done is merely a by-product of our world becoming much smaller and more connected. It’s the New Economy!

The organizational structure that outlines how we communicate and coordinate with our internal and external partners, is the most critical piece of the puzzle. Without a structure that can stand the test of time, through market fluctuations, political changes, or demographic shifts, the long-term effort to really build a sound community will not be sustained. The Focused Future Plan provides the framework for community success.

In order to plan where a community is to go, it is important to develop a desired destination. This future destination or "vision" may not be the community as it is today, but is a future condition the community wishes to attain.

The Action Team developed this Vision Statement to use throughout the planning process as a guide. The Vision Statement will also provide the framework to monitor the implementation of the strategic plan:

Visitors from around the world join Page residents in experiencing the wonders of the Colorado Plateau. In addition to the numerous recreational activities, there are opportunities for educational and cultural exchanges. When the sun goes down, the experience continues with great shopping, food, and a lively nightlife. Exciting activities can be found at the Civic Center, Cultural Center, and the new Town Square. Visitors stay longer, return more often and gladly tell the world of their unique experience.

Page’s Action Team has concluded its work in developing the strategic plan and is now entering the implementation phase. It is going to take a comprehensive effort by governmental and non-governmental entities in tandem with enthusiastic and supportive citizens to successfully implement the plan and attain the community’s vision.