City officials in New York Mills have an opportunity for potential leaders in the community. As some of the "old guard" enter semi-retirement, step away from city government and settle in at the lake, new leaders are needed to step forward and fill some roles.
A new rural leadership and economic development initiative from the University of Minnesota Extension Service and the Northwest Area Foundation is available to communities such as New York Mills.
With the office of mayor and two city council seats up for election this November now might be the time to usher in some new leadership in the community.
The Horizons program is a community-based initiative open to the 124 rural Minnesota communities between 500 and 5,000 people with poverty rates of at least 10 percent. The University of Minnesota Extension Service will provide training, support and resources to members of these communities to strengthen community leadership and civic engagement systems.
The program happens in five phases:
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Showcase - a one day overview of the program to help communities decide if they'd like to join Horizons. Five individuals from a given community must take part in the showcase (the five should be representative of the community.) Participation in a showcase is a prerequisite to participate in subsequent phases of the program.
Study Circles - In each participating Horizons community, groups of 8-12 will be organized to discuss poverty and a plan for community action.
Leadership Plenty - Community members will receive nine sessons of leadership skill development.
Strategic Visioning - Neighbors will come together to prioritize next steps to enact poverty reduction efforts.
Action - With support from Horizons staff, ideas developed through the visioning process will be implemented.
In order for NY Mills to participate in this leadership training opportunity there must be interest in people from the community. Potential leaders may contact the city office at 385-2213 for more information, or stop by the regular Thursday morning community meeting at the library to get more involved.
