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 The UOC meeting included representatives from the City of
Lincoln, Logan County Board, Chamber of Commerce, Main Street
Lincoln, Tourism, Development Partnership, and community members.
The sessions, held from Wednesday evening through Friday noon at the
Lincoln Rural Firehouse, were led and facilitated by consultant
Marit Peters from Albuquerque, NM.
The UOC had five objectives for the meeting: 1) clarify the
committee’s charge, 2) define “community” and the community’s vision
for the future, 3) review organizational models and share updates on
current state of each organization, 4) define the governance model
for the ‘new’ organization, and 5) establish a process for
implementing the new organizational model with timelines.
Since the UOC had not met with the consultant since February, it was
important that the group define its charge and agree upon the
ultimate purpose of the committee itself. By agreeing on their
charge, everyone present could understand the work of the group and
when that work was complete. The UOC’s charge included finalizing
the structure and governance of the ‘new’ organization, defining a
competency-based board and the process/plan to get to that new
board, establishing concrete deadlines and a timeline for
completion, and development of a communication plan to share the
committee’s work with the community.
The UOC defined “community” as not just Lincoln, but all of Logan
County. The UOC felt firmly that the community that we all want to
advance and promote includes all the cities/villages in Logan
County, farmers, all civic organizations, businesses in county
(including those in downtowns and business districts), property
owners in the county, residents in unincorporated Logan County,
individuals who live in the county but work elsewhere, and
educational institutions.
The group reaffirmed a shared vision for the community that was
originally developed by a focus group of Logan County citizens in
February of this year:
- A clear, common brand for the community (a clear identity
that is well-articulated, that creates pride, esteem & unity;
clear signage for out-of-towners; successes that feel like
county successes)
- A healthy economy (job opportunities and an employable
workforce)
- Leveraged & promoted our assets (events, destinations, new
museum, convenient location, using our facilities to host –
‘heads in beds’)
- Vibrant downtowns (more boutique retail, more businesses,
better atmosphere, streetscapes – support for new & existing
businesses)
- Improved government relationships (between the cities and
the county)
- Colleges that are here and are thriving and growing (with
mentorship programs between colleges and businesses)
- Education systems are collaborating & leveraging each
other’s resources and that have a consistent plan to coordinate
school, activities, and vocations
- More medium-income and accessible housing available
- More technology alternatives and more competition between
providers
- Greater citizen engagement
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The four organizations will be merged into a new organization
that will retain the current Chamber of Commerce’s employer
identification number, tax ID number, etc., with a new
structure. The “new” Chamber will be governed by a new
seven-person, competency-based board of directors. The new board
of directors will be assisted through the creation of four new
councils, each providing the board information and guidance in a
particular area of expertise. The four councils that will be
established are: new business development council; advocacy and
current businesses promotion council; tourism and hospitality
promotion council; and educate to employ council.
The role of the new board will be to function as a governing body
for the organization with all the same duties as any high
functioning non-profit board of directors, including such duties
such as: fiduciary stewardship;, creating the vision, mission, and
values of the organization, setting policies, goals, and objectives;
and hiring, overseeing, and evaluating the CEO of the organization.
Both general and functional competencies were established and
defined for the new board members. These competencies will help the
UOC narrow the search for strong qualified leaders for the new
organization.
The plan and timeline for the integration of the four organizations
will kick off with creation of a nominating committee to recruit
candidates for the new board. The UOC is currently working to
recruit and identify five members of this committee (three members
from the UOC and two from community). The nominating committee will
work with UOC-established board member selection criteria to develop
a recruiting, selection, and interview process for candidates of the
new board by the end of August.
In August, the nominating committee will put out a call to the
community to serve on the board. Interested individuals will
complete applications by the end of August. In September, the
nominating committee will interview all qualified candidates to
narrow the selection to fourteen individuals. A vote will take place
in October to select the seven new board members with an eye towards
having all the new members seated no later than November 1st for the
board to be prepared for orientation and training to ready them for
their new roles.
 Each of the six organizations (City, County, Chamber, Partnership,
Tourism, and Main Street) will be asked to commit and clarify
contributions to the new organization by August 1, 2014. The voting
for the new board of directors will be weighted with 75% of the vote
going to organizations committed to the new organization. The other
25% of the vote will be shared by the smaller municipalities in
Logan County that are not currently involved in the UOC. The UOC is
still working on the details to determine who will facilitate the
voting process.
The goal is to have all the organizations integrated by the end of
this year (2014).
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