| Take
an idea.
Add more than 50 facilitators.
Mix in an interested community.
The result?
More than 2,200 completed surveys providing insight and direction
to community leaders from nearly 20 percent of the county.
The results of last year’s Owen 20/20 survey of the community
will be released in a public meeting at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16. The
meeting will be held in the auditorium at Owen County High School.
According to Dr. Lori Garkovich, a social scientist with the University
of Kentucky, Owen County’s response was overwhelming, compared
to other communities. A similar survey in Boone County, for example,
netted fewer than 1,000 responses.
Garkovich spent last summer and fall compiling the results of
the survey, which was a project of the Leadership Owen County
alumni group. She had originally expected the results to be complete
by the end of summer. The response was so great, however, that
it took longer than expected.
After the meeting next week, a complete set of the results will
be available online at www.owentonnewsherald.com/Owen2020.htm.
They will also be available at the Owen County Public Library
and at selected locations around the community.
Facilitators who participated in the process last spring are encouraged
to attend the meeting to receive a copy of the executive summary
and to take the information back to their area of the county.
Elected officials and candidates are also encouraged to be present.
“We’ve completed the first phase of the process of
discovering what the residents of Owen County want the future
to look like,” said Kim Strohmeier, co-chair of the project.
“Now, it’s time for us to move forward, put our task
forces in place, and make some of these images come to life for
the people of Owen County.”
Tony Watkins, Strohmeier’s co-chair, echoed his thoughts
and added that he was pleased with the input from the residents
who participated, but added there’s still much work to be
done.
“The easy part is finished,” he said. “The hard
work will be the task forces finding ways to implement the solutions
to the needs county residents have expressed. It’s going
to take a lot of people working to meet not their personal agendas,
but the needs of Owen County residents to call this project successful.”
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