Threads of a Community: Phelps County Is Stitching Together a Bright Future

By Jeff Hofaker - PCDC Executive Director

I would like to express a sincere thanks to everyone in Phelps County for making my wife, Stacey, and me feel VERY welcome and an immediate part of the community family. Over the past several months, Phelps County communities have impressed me with a welcoming spirit, community events, strong leadership, a giving-back-to-community culture, caring for your neighbor nature, and a strong entrepreneurial spirit.

When you grow up in a community, as we have, with these types of attributes, it is easy to assume that ALL rural communities have a “welcoming feel” and a “proactive attitude for growth.” This assumption is NOT correct nor a general rule. These community attributes were once called “hooks” by many in the community development world and create a strong culture or foundation for a community or region. These ‘hooks’ are a primary reason people and families want to live, work, play, support, AND return to a community.  

Community Development (although there are many definitions) is generally understood in the development world as:

“Aspects of a community that encourage a person / family to WANT to move to, live in, and eagerly share the positives of the community with others, to the point of recruiting others to the community.”  

These primary aspects can include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. A welcoming atmosphere from residents
2. An up-kept city that creates a great first impression
3. Child-friendly locations and organizations (parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, pre-schools, childcares, walking paths, ponds, memorials, etc.)
4. Strong schools with proactive leadership, marketability, friendliness of students and teachers, classroom size, and teacher-to-student ratios, diverse educational opportunities, strong and diverse sports programs, etc.
5. Strong business districts (availability of services to local citizens) and strong manufacturing/service businesses 
6. Social Interaction (churches, organizational groups, family activities, youth connection groups, etc.)
7. Housing and housing lots availability (for purchase, renting, or new construction at various locations).

The citizens and the community attributes (amenities) are, in many ways the “fabric in a blanket” that makes each community unique and workable. Consider the different types of yarn used for creating a blanket.  There are different kinds of fiber (from sheep to alpaca), different textures (from coarse to smooth), different colors, and different strengths (three-ply to seven-ply).  

These characteristics of yarn are in many ways representative of the citizens and groups of a community, but these characteristics by themselves are not an end product. The community's uniqueness, just like the yarn, needs to be used together with leadership or an artisan to produce an end-product like a blanket.

The blanket itself represents projects – either finished or being constructed - within our community that provide additional “hooks” to attract people, families, and businesses.  Each “blanket” is constructed with the “yarn” of the community; likewise, each community must provide leadership and direction for growth to occur and have a mission and goal of a better community, city, or region for everyone to live in and to attract future residents.

Citizens want to recruit family members or share with visitors how incredible a place it is. Community and city development involves communicating with all groups to gather input for strategically planning a unified vision together.    

The best communication is conducted in both directions.  Our hope by providing these monthly discussions is to create a stronger relationship through communication with our current residents, Phelps County businesses, alumni, and future residents. We are striving toward a growing interaction among all citizens, businesses, organizations, and governments, so that all feel part of the ‘blanket’ called Phelps County.