We’ve all seen news reports complaining about our region’s economic, infrastructure, and social dilemmas, predicting dire consequences if “something” doesn’t happen. We’ve all grumbled too, saying, “They’ve got to do something about that.” Well, WE are “they”, and we have the chance to create the plans that will position and define our four-state region for several decades. The Power of 32 is waiting for us.

In May 2009, the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Greater Pittsburgh Nonprofit Partnership, and Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission founded Power of 32 Regional Visioning Project to create and implement a unified vision for our region. The states – Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, and West Virginia – encompass 32 contiguous counties, with Pittsburgh as the hub. The group’s office is at the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute of Politics. Former state senator Allen Kukovich is the regional chair and Selena Schmidt is the executive director. The counties are:

Pennsylvania – Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Mercer, Somerset, Washington, Westmoreland
Maryland – Allegany, Garrett
Ohio – Belmont, Columbiana, Jefferson, Mahoning, Monroe
West Virginia – Brooke, Hancock, Harrison, Marion, Marshall, Monongalia, Ohio, Preston, Tyler, Wetzel

The region includes 17,380 square miles and is home to about 4.2 million residents. That’s more than the population of 23 states.

One goal is to “connect people, communities, and institutions in new and effective ways to solve problems and seize opportunities”. It’s an ambitious goal, but the project structure makes it possible.

This project is a two-year process, not an event. It begins with community conversations throughout the region. Power of 32 has hosted more than 50 meetings so far, including 26 on July 27 alone. Dozens more will occur through September in every county and as many communities as possible. See the Power of 32 website for details.

At the conversations, participants discuss the area’s strengths, weaknesses, and possibilities. They describe what they want the area to look like in the year 2025. Every suggestion is accepted. The group records every opinion, proposal, and comment. As Schmidt says, “Every person has value.” She says a conversation is not a gripe session. It’s a very positive, thoughtful, engaging process and everyone feels good when it’s over. And “everyone” includes store clerks, blue-collar workers, government officials, corporate executives, teenagers, the retired, and the unemployed. The participants represent all ages, races, occupations, financial levels, demographics, and political inclinations.

Schmidt prefers not to say what issues arise because she doesn’t want to influence the process, but she did say that if an issue doesn’t appear in a conversation, it won’t be on the final agenda. The public drives this project, not the medical/corporate/foundation industry. When the conversation phase ends, the staff will collect public input through other methods, which are still being developed. She is determined to give every regional resident the opportunity to participate in the project.

Then the team will compile and analyze the data, and report it for a region-wide town hall style forum in late spring next year. At that meeting, participants will begin to frame solutions to the issues – to draw plans to get us from here to there.

Having the government, corporate, and foundation sectors on board should make it easier to implement the plans. The 11 member Executive Committee and 60 member Steering Committee comprise an impressive list of the area’s corporate, foundation, nonprofit, and government leaders.

So, where do you come in? You can attend a conversation or volunteer to organize and lead an event. More than 1,300 people have attended conversations so far, with nearly 100 volunteer facilitators. Check the list.  There’s one near you. You can also take the 12-question survey on the website.
 

As the website says:
Power of 32 is your way to have a say in the region’s best future. The work we accomplish now in a spirit of collaboration will have an impact on generations to come, along with the sense of community we can all share after realizing the power we have if we work together as 32 counties in one unified region competing in a global economy.

We all breathe the same air, use the same water, drive the same highways, and we get our ideas from the same amazing group of over 50 colleges and universities. The only thing we find at artificial boundaries are problems, not solutions. Together – as the Power of 32 – we can find those solutions through collaboration.

We all can have a hand in making our home region be what we think it should be.
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For more information:
Power of 32
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On August 28

1963 – Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the civil rights march in Washington, DC.

1968 – Chicago police arrested hundreds of people protesting US policies in Vietnam at the Democratic National Convention.

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