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June 2018 Update

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Thank you again for your opinions, ideas and interest in shaping the future of the Tri-Cities.

Major progress has been made on the myTRI 2030 Regional Vision Project.

Here is an overview of what has happened so far:

Official myTRI Launch

We held a press conference on Wednesday, March 14 to publicly launch the project. The press conference included the following speakers:

  • regg McConnell, Chair of the Chamber’s Regional Affairs Committee and retired publisher of the Tri-City Herald
  • Ron Boninger, Past-Chair of the Chamber’s Regional Affairs Committee and President/CEO of Carbitex
  • Dave Zabell, Pasco City Manager
  • Rebekah Woods, President of Columbia Basin College
  • Lori Mattson, President/CEO of the Tri-City Regional Chamber

We received great coverage from the media; including all local television stations, an article in the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business and a favorable Editorial Board with the Tri-City Herald.

Community Questionnaire

The questionnaire was available on the myTRI 2030 website from March 14 to May 15. Through a very comprehensive outreach strategy, we received 4,319 responses. This is an incredible result (Comparatively, the Quad-Cities had 3,589 responses from a regional population of over 400k)! The responses were split very evenly between the three largest cities, and we had great turnout from the next generation. Our outreach included all high schools in the Tri-Cities.

Leader Interviews

Thirty local leaders, primarily private sector businesses people, were selected by the Regional Affairs Committee to participate in one-on-one interviews with our consultants at NewEdge. The interviews assisted NewEdge in gaining perspective on the region’s core drivers and obstacles for success.

Big Vision Workshop

NewEdge facilitated a two-day Big Vision Workshop on May 30th and 31st, where leaders of 27 stakeholder groups gathered with 13 private sector business leaders (Regional Affairs Committee members). The stakeholder groups included the leadership of all four cities, three ports, both counties, three school districts, WSU Tri-Cities, Columbia Basin College, TRIDEC, Visit Tri-Cities, Chambers of Commerce, Downtown Associations, FUSE, Home Builders Association, Leadership Tri-Cities, Benton Franklin Council of Governments, Benton Franklin Health Alliance, Benton Franklin Workforce Development Council, United Way, and Washington State STEM Education Foundation.

The two-day workshop was facilitated by Pam Henderson, PhD, CEO of NewEdge and six NewEdge consultants. The working session stretched our thinking and ultimately empowered the participants to build a vision from winning opportunities that will amplify our collective impact.

Next Steps

Pam Henderson and the NewEdge team are currently working to deliver a final prioritized roadmap of short and long-term opportunities and strategies for the Tri-Cities; structured for collaboration across the region’s public and private sectors.

As we await the final deliverable we are working to create momentum for the project which will ultimately include forming many groups of passionate experts, leaders and citizens to turn the goals into action.

There is still much work to be done, however, we are celebrating the success of engaging thousands of citizens and dozens of leaders from the public and private sector in this transformational project. We will continue to provide updates on the project and invite all to become involved!

Thank you again for your interest and help in creating the future of the Tri-Cities!