Nov 4, 2013 | Community Vibrancy
Upstate, SC – Ten at the Top (TATT), an organization created to foster collaboration, partnerships and strategic planning across the Upstate, has announced the finalists for the first-ever Hughes Investments Elevate Upstate Community Vibrancy Grants.
The five finalists were chosen from a total of 30 applications submitted for the two grants available in 2013. Hughes Investments is contributing $10,000 per year over the next five years to the program with two recipients each year receiving $5,000 to support a new vibrancy initiative in the Upstate.
The program was announced earlier this year in conjunction with the Community Vibrancy Workshops conducted by Ten at the Top across the Upstate. The workshops showcased examples from across the state and nation of communities that have created innovative programs to enhance community and economic vibrancy.
“The goal of the Elevate Upstate program is to get communities thinking about what types of initiatives or programs might help spark vibrancy within their area and then provide some seed money to get some of them started,” said Hughes Investments President Phil Hughes. “I was absolutely amazed by the number of great ideas submitted for the program. It was a real challenge to narrow the field from 30 excellent applications to five finalists.”
During the Our Upstate Vision/Ten at the Top Forum on November 19th the five finalists will each provide a brief overview of their initiative before the two 2013 recipients are announced. The forum is free and open to the public and will be held from 3-5 pm at the Embassy Suites in Greenville.
Here are the five finalists:
City of Anderson – Transforming utility and traffic signalization boxes and crosswalks into public art based around the book “Little Wren Lost and the Teakettle Call.”
Town of Calhoun Falls – Lighting project in the Blue Hole Recreational Area on Lake Russell.
Greenville County Parks, Recreation and Tourism – Swamp Rabbit Trail Mural project.
City of Greer Parks and Recreation – “Greer: An International Destination Festival” would be a one-day event in Downtown Greer as part of Upstate International Month
Blue Ridge Arts Council – “3 Part Public Art” project includes murals, custom and hand built street furniture and interactive sculptures in downtown Seneca.
The selection committee for the Elevate Upstate Grants Program includes Phil Hughes (President, Hughes Investments), Betsy Fleming (President, Converse College), and Terence Roberts (Mayor, City of Anderson).
May 22, 2013 | Community Vibrancy, Elevate Upstate
Upstate, SC– Ten at the Top (TATT), through a funding commitment from Phil Hughes and Hughes Investments Inc., has established the Hughes Investments Vibrancy Initiative: ELEVATE UPSTATE Grants (EU). The program is being announced in conjunction with the Ten at the Top Community Vibrancy Workshops being held at four locations across the Upstate this week.
The purpose of the ELEVATE UPSTATE Grants is to identify and provide initial funding support for community based programs that promote community and economic vibrancy in local areas across the Upstate. The initiative will award two grants annually with each being for up to $5,000 (total of $10,000 per year for five years) from 2013-2017 to entities including neighborhood associations, civic or community based organizations, non-profit organizations or local governments that are committed to developing and implementing programs designed to increase local vibrancy in communities within the Upstate. The TATT Community Vibrancy Task Force will provide some guidance through the project implementation process if it is needed.
“Communities often have great ideas for things they want to do to increase their local vibrancy,” Hughes said. “However, they often don’t have the seed money that can get an idea moving toward an action. We want ELEVATE UPSTATE to provide that initial support so communities can create new projects and grow the vibrancy within their community and thus within the Upstate region.”
Applicants must be located in and do their work within communities in one of the ten Upstate counties: Abbeville, Anderson, Gaffney, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg, or Union. Successful proposals for projects funded by EU should be able to clearly demonstrate how the implementation of the initiative that they propose will benefit and provide vibrancy in the local community. These proposals may seek to produce a physical result, such as a mural, sculpture or signage that will increase the vibrancy and sense of place within a community, or implement the first of a reoccurring or annual event or program that helps grow vibrancy within a community. Examples of projects that have provided vibrancy within communities across South Carolina and the United States are being highlighted as part of the Community Vibrancy Workshops and a list of nearly 50 vibrancy projects is available on the TATT web site (www.tenatthetop.org).
“We are very fortunate to have leaders within our region like Phil Hughes who recognize not only the importance of promoting community vibrancy, but who are also willing to help provide funding support to help communities take projects from idea to action,” said TATT Executive Director Dean Hybl.
The application for the first ELEVATE UPSTATE Grants will be available on the TATT web site by June 1st and the application deadline is September 15th. Recipients will be announced at the final TATT Forum of 2013 to be held in late November or early December.
Jun 25, 2010 | Community Vibrancy, Driver Areas
Upstate, SC [June 25, 2010] – The Shared Upstate Growth Vision Survey distributed by Ten at the Top (TATT), a regional organization created to foster regional collaboration and planning in the 10-county Upstate region, generated feedback from more than 6,000 Upstate residents during a recently concluded four-week distribution period. Through the survey, residents from across the Upstate were asked to share “what matters most to you” as we look toward future growth in the region.
The Upstate is projected to add more than 235,000 residents and 200,000 new jobs over the next 20 years. In preparation for this growth, it is vital that leaders and decision makers within the region have an understanding of what people value about the region today and what they see as priorities for the future as we look to maintain and enhance the quality of life that makes the Upstate a wonderful place to live. Survey participants were asked to prioritize issues such as education, workforce development, green space, air and water quality, public safety and transportation. The survey also elicited responses pertaining to how residents envision future growth in both the urban and rural areas of the region.
“We are very pleased with the great interest and feedback we have received from residents across the Upstate,” said Dean Hybl, executive director of TATT. “It is clear that residents care about the future of our region and have specific elements for which they have great passion as we look toward the future.”
The results from the survey, along with other regional studies and information, will be used by the Ten at the Top Vision and Values Committee to create an initial vision statement and vision principles. Residents will then have an additional opportunity to help shape the vision through participation in a number of community forums to be conducted in the fall.
“Having more than 6,000 people participate in our initial survey provides a great start,” Hybl added. “However, we know there are many more residents across the Upstate who care about the future, but have not yet been engaged. Community involvement is the backbone of creating a Shared Vision for the region. We hope every resident that is interested will participate in our future outreach because every voice is important.”
Continued
The survey results and initial vision statement will be shared at a Regional Summit on September 28th at the Carolina First Center. The event is open to the public and attendees will have the opportunity to offer input and help prioritize the elements of the vision. TATT will also host community forums across all 10 counties of the region during the months of October and November where residents will again have the opportunity to provide feedback on the initial vision statement and principles.
In addition to the community outreach, this fall two graduate studio classes at Clemson University will be working with TATT to create the land use model and a regional tool kit that will help communities implement elements of the regional vision that fit for their local community. A second Summit will be held in the spring where the final Shared Upstate Growth Vision and Implementation Guide will be unveiled.
Specific details about how to register for the Regional Summit and Community Forums will be announced in late July.
Mar 23, 2010 | Community Vibrancy, Driver Areas
Upstate, SC – The regional collaboration and planning organization Ten at the Top (TATT) today announced a four step, year-long initiative to create a Shared Vision and Implementation Strategy for South Carolina‟s Upstate (known as the Shared Upstate Vision) that will be based on input from area residents, community leaders and elected officials.
According to projections based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Upstate of South Carolina (comprised of Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg and Union counties) will add roughly 234,000 residents and 200,000 new jobs to the region over the next 20 years. Pending the final results from the 2010 Census, it means the 10-county region could have a population near 1.6 million with nearly a million jobs by 2030.
“We are very fortunate to be a region that is anticipated to continue growing and increasing our economic vitality,” said Irv Welling, the Chair Emeritus of Elliott Davis and the Chair of Ten at the Top.
“However, with that growth comes a responsibility to ensure that we maintain and increase the quality of life for the next generation. Creating a regional vision will help illustrate what people of the region value and what leaders and elected officials need to be looking at as we plan for the future.”
TATT has developed a four step process that combines community input with engagement from community leaders and elected officials from across the region. Below are the steps and project timeline:
Step 1: Community Education and Input – February-May 2010
Step 2: Refining the Vision – June-August 2010
Step 3: Unveiling the Vision/Creating the Implementation Strategy – September-December 2010
Step 4: Publishing of Implementation Strategy – January-March 2011
Presentations and meetings with community leaders and elected officials have been ongoing since the Ten at the Top Board of Directors approved the strategy in February 2010.
The public portion of the campaign will begin with a „Public Input Survey‟ that will be available for residents to complete between May 10 and 31. In this survey, which will be available both over the internet and in printed form, residents will answer a series of questions dealing with the issues of growth, land use, economic vitality, natural and cultural resources, education, and quality of life.
The land use questions will build on the information collected in April 2009 during the „Upstate Reality Check‟, which was coordinated by Ten at the Top and engaged more than 400 leaders from across the region in a day-long exercise to look at future growth within the region.
That exercise identified four potential patterns for future on-the-ground growth in the region:
Dispersed Growth Development: Reflecting current growth trends, this scenario places less development in existing city centers; adds growth throughout the region; separates jobs from residential areas; and increases dependence on roads and automobiles.
Corridor Development: Placing development along existing and projected roads and transit corridors, especially near transit stops, this scenario provides a mix of jobs and housing.
Center Development: Concentrating new growth primarily in existing city centers; this scenario mixes housing and jobs while also conserving open space and rural lands.
Village Development: Supporting development in small towns as well as larger cities, this scenario provides goods and services on downtown main streets, combines households and jobs in town centers and preserves rural character.
The Appalachian Council of Governments and the Metropolitan Studies Institute at USC-Upstate are developing questions for the survey with input from the Ten at the Top Vision and Values committee. The Metropolitan Studies Institute will also monitor the results to ensure statistical validity and sufficient representation across the entire region.
“Because it is important to ensure that all residents of the region are represented appropriately, we will identify the number of respondents we need from each county to constitute a representative sample and take measures to make sure that we obtain enough responses,” said Dr. Kathleen Brady, Director of the Metropolitan Center at USC-Upstate. “We will distribute the survey as widely as possible and if necessary will reach out to residents in some counties by the telephone to ensure that we get a wide understanding of what matters to the residents of our region.”
Following the community survey period, the TATT Vision and Values Committee, which is being chaired by Dr. John Stockwell, Chancellor of USC-Upstate, and includes representatives from a wide array of stakeholder groups across the entire region, will review the survey results and develop the elements of the regional vision.
“The Shared Upstate Vision will help identify the issues of regional scale and significance that can be addressed from a broader perspective than only at the city and county levels,” said Dean Hybl, Executive Director of Ten at the Top. “It also will provide a roadmap to give regional organizations and elected officials an understanding of what elements of our future growth matter to residents.”
The Shared Upstate Vision will be unveiled during a Regional Summit in September 2010. For the Regional Vision to be successful, it will take community buy-in and an implementation strategy. At the Upstate Regional Summit and then in the following weeks at Community Forums held in each of the ten counties in the region, participants will be asked to provide input on how to ensure public support and how the Shared Upstate Vision can be implemented in an effective and efficient manner.
“Many people have the mistaken idea that regional planning is about creating a large homogeneous, generic megapolitan area, when in fact the goal of successful regional planning is quite the opposite,” said Rick Danner, Mayor of the City of Greer and a Ten at the Top Executive Committee Member. “The mission of Ten at the Top as I see it is to recognize, identify and plan for changes that will affect the Upstate region and then proactively inform and educate our citizens so that they can make informed decisions about the future of the region.
“My vision for the Upstate, with the help and direction of TATT, is to help preserve those things we hold dear, sense of community, the environment and robust economy within the framework of a well planned growing and changing region.”
An implementation strategy for the Shared Upstate Vision will be finalized during the first quarter of 2011 and one goal for TATT during the remainder of 2011 will be to present the vision and implementation strategy to all city and county governments in the region as well as to businesses and community organizations across the Upstate.
