The City of Mitchell is a growing Midwestern community conveniently located on I-90 in South Central South Dakota. Mitchell is home to both Mitchell Technical Institute and Dakota Wesleyan University and serves as a regional hub for trade in an area that spans 15 counties. The City is home to the World’s Only Corn Palace which sees over 250,000 visitors per year. The City also features a 500-acre lake within the municipality that provides unique recreational opportunities for residents and visitors.
With a current population of 15,250, the City of Mitchell is on the forefront of modern technology in the region. Using the collaborative efforts of many Community Organizations, the City has accomplished many of the goals that were identified in its 2009-2010 visioning process and is ready to engage the community in a similar discussion to identify future community goals for the next ten years. The City of Mitchell has contracted with Future iQ to guide a Community Vision and Strategic Action Plan process for the community. This project is called Forward 2040.
Forward 2040 will represent the whole community, reflect core community values address emerging trends and issues, imagine a preferred future, and promote local action. The Community Strategic Action Plan will direct efforts and resources toward a defined vision for the future employing a roadmap that is realistic, achievable and sustainable.
The visioning and strategic planning process aims to provide a response to the following questions:
- What should the City of Mitchell become?
- What makes the City of Mitchell unique and special and how can the City use these characteristics to prepare for the future?
- How will community stakeholder preferences fit into this vision?
- How should funds be invested and leveraged to build resiliency for the City?
The project will include:
- Benchmarking the City against similar Cities and Towns across the United States
- A communication plan
- Facilitation of the City of Mitchell Future Think-Tank producing a Scenarios of the Future Report
- Extensive community stakeholder engagement
- Community Surveys to include as many community members as possible
- Data analysis and visualization presented on Future iQ’s Lab Portal
- Vision validation through a Think-Tank Reconvene
- Focus Groups to develop action steps
- Production of the Mitchell Community Vision and Strategic Action Plan
