“Everybody has a role to play in developing their communities,” said Alex Holland, vice president of Atlas Community Studios.
In that spirit, Holland and others from the team at Atlas/McClure, a national development firm, will be in town Wednesday and Thursday to meet with community members to get their input on a range of issues, especially regarding housing and economic development.
The community meeting is scheduled from 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Stadler Conference Room at Allen Community College.
“You cannot put together a strategic plan in any region or community without the public’s input,” Holland noted.
“Perspectives might be different, but it’s still really important for us to know what people believe or perceive is the state of housing in the area.”
Holland also said that Atlas is especially interested in getting participation from folks who might not typically attend public meetings, such as students and others in “the next-generation workforce.”
“What we’re here to do is increase capacity,” she added. “What we hope to do is develop and empower community champions.”
ATLAS Studios/McClure are being brought to town by Thrive Allen County, who procured a grant from the USDA called the Rural Placemaking Innovation Challenge.
According to Holland, at Atlas, “we focus on strategic planning and economic development in small and rural communities exclusively.”
“We believe cities have become overpopulated and oversaturated,” she added, and highlighted the importance of rural communities taking advantage of a post-COVID landscape, where folks may become increasingly interested in moving to rural areas.
In order to encourage said migration, however, “we believe it is crucial for those communities to grow and develop their economies accordingly.”
But in order to do that, a number of challenges will need to be addressed, Holland said.
“How are we increasing population and tourism? Are we prioritizing economic and social development? How are we improving residents’ overall quality of life?”
Although it will take time to answer such questions, Holland is convinced that success is totally attainable, though, especially once the necessary data has been collected.
AS FOR the three main areas that Atlas/McClure plan to address locally, the first is housing.
