Click here  to access the full Vision 2020 plan.

Unlike Google’s instantaneous results, our process will take months. Why? There’s a lot to consider. We need to look into the future, anticipate trends, understand economic markets, and evaluate our capital and human resources. Different people are going to have different ideas about not only where to go but also how to get there. But in the end, Clearfield City will have both its destination and its detailed route determined.

Strategic planning is not a pie-in-the-sky visioning process that establishes an unattainable and unrealistic dream of constructing Camelot. It’s collectively identifying goals that will stretch and challenge us, that build a better community, and identifies each step we will walk on our journey. Simply stated, our strategic plan will help us manage and control our future.

Beginning with the end in mind
Before embarking on our journey, we need to know our destination. Where, exactly, are we going? This is step one. Pinpointing our destination requires a thorough and honest self examination, determining our core values as a community, understanding our capabilities and our challenges, knowing our strengths and weaknesses. It’s not enough to know what we don’t want to be. We have to clearly and responsibly identify what we do want to be.

Also needed for our strategic plan is a list of performance measurements that we can check off once obtained. Successful or unsuccessful accomplishment of these measurements will help us to know we’re on the right course or if we need to recalibrate and take a different route to our destination.

How’s this going to work?
The Clearfield City mayor and council are leading the charge to manage and control our future. However, this is a community-wide effort. In January, the city will establish its Planning Committee. This Committee will be responsible for guiding and directing the plan from start to finish. The Committee will be made up of elected officials, residents, city staff and other community leaders and stakeholders involved in business, education, public services, etc.

Community involvement and soliciting input will be key components of drafting a successful strategic plan. Look for opportunities in the months ahead to share your thoughts. There will be several.

The Committee will be tasked with the following: (1) identifying our community’s core values and establishing our vision and mission statements; (2) conducting an environmental scan and a strengths, weaknesses and other threats (SWOT) analysis; (3) establishing goals, measurable objectives and step-by-step tactics for the plan; and (4) detailing an implementation plan and a schedule for performance assessment, review, and re-planning.

At the end of the anticipated six- to eight-month process, the Committee will present the completed plan to the residents, mayor and council. This will then be the document, the road map, for city leaders to follow on the way to our new and exciting destination.

Here we go. . .
We have the sun in our eyes and the wind at our backs as we start our new journey. This will be a comprehensive process that will be at times likely frustrating but in the end ultimately enriching. The process of developing the plan will be just as important, if not more so, as the final plan itself.

In the end we will have a strategic plan that will help us manage and control our future.