Highlights of the Springfield Metro-Winston Salem/Greensboro, North Carolina Visit
A group of Springfield leaders representing business, education, philanthropy, planning, workforce development and industry embarked on its first City2City Greater Springfield trip, visiting Winston-Salem and Greensboro, North Carolina between November 29 and December 2, 2010. The trip was organized and facilitated by the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Some facts about the trip:
- 38 people participated in the first City2City trip - including three from the Federal Reserve Bank in Boston - representing a very diverse group: 36% women; 44% Black/Latino; 47% community/nonprofit organizations; 18% business; 13% City; and 13% higher education.
- Met with 30 individuals from Winston-Salem & Greensboro, including the Mayor of Winston-Salem, heads of Chambers, head of the United Way, Superintendent of Schools, head of CDC, a college president, assistant Chief of Police and Foundation executives.
- Special sites included: Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts, Piedmont Triad Research Park, Goler Community Development Center, International Civil Rights Center & Museum, Forsyth Tech Community College and the NewBridge Bank Park baseball stadium.
Lessons Learned:
- Need to build optimism
- Need to better share information
- Need to be more participatory
- Need to work across sectors toward a common goal and vision
- Need to ignore the naysayers and just make something happen
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