This is making a difference on KSMU. And this year we're looking at the past, present and future of the Community Focus Report on its 20th anniversary. This month, Jim Anderson and Brian Fogle talk about how the report got started and the impact it's had.
Anderson: "Well, really, the origin was back in 2003 when we were on a community leadership visit to Lexington, Kentucky. That was our tenth one. And each year the chamber sponsors a trip to a peer community or community that we want to be looked at from an aspirational standpoint. And Lexington was our choice in 2003, and the theme of that trip really became what they call a community livability study. And Lexington had gotten the idea from a community leadership visit they took to Jacksonville, Florida. But it really resonated with us in terms of, that's something we need to be doing back in our community, and they call it community soul searching. And as I say, they had gotten the idea from Jacksonville, Florida, and they called theirs the Community Livability Report. And of course, our name is Community Focus Report. We changed it a little bit better, and it all started with them when they were in Jacksonville. And the reason they do the community leadership visits, not unlike Springfield, is they feel like they are a good community, but they want to be a great community. So they want to emulate some obviously success stories they see in other communities. And their livability report, not unlike our Community Focus report, focuses on blue ribbons, success stories, if you will, and red flags, those areas that we need to focus on and concentrate to improve, hence the name Community Focus Report. So that's really how it started. And of course the very first one was 2004, and we really felt like it needs to be sponsored, sort of under the umbrella of an organization separate from the chamber, to really preserve its objectivity and the integrity of the report. And that's when the Community Foundation of the Ozarks agreed to sort of be the sponsoring organization with other organizations helping. But it became under the umbrella of Community Foundation of the Ozarks. And, Brian, if memory serves me correct, one of the ideas, too, was this could be maybe a template for other communities where you have affiliates. And I think that happened in a couple of cases.
Fogle: "Yeah. And again, the leadership visits, first of all, have been so important to us. And I credit Jim and the chamber for starting those and our airport terminal. There are so many projects that happened here at the aquarium that really came, the vision came from those leadership visits. And a couple of things — the first one, and I was on that steering committee that that very, very first year, is, again, kudos to Jim and the chamber saying, 'we don't want this to be a chamber piece.' People would see it as, 'oh, this is, you know, a pamphlet to promote the community,' and we want it to be, we kept using the term an unvarnished look at Springfield. And the other thing that came out of that is we wanted there to be red flags, those things we're not doing well, and to talk about those but also those things we are doing well. So often we focus on problems and forget to celebrate those things we're doing well. So it was looking at both of those, and it so it sort of ended up in the Community Foundation's lap as being the leader of that. And we did — Jim, to your point, we did take that and and tried to get it out to other affiliates and promoted that a lot. A couple of them picked up on it, but I still remember that term from a couple of communities sharing with me, why would we want to quote air our dirty laundry in public? They didn't want to do that, and they would not do that. So I think that is one of the things that has kept it alive for 20 years is that it is unvarnished, and it is a look at our community, what we do well and what we need to work on."
Anderson: "And to Brian's point, as you would expect, there was a little pushback. You mean you're going to really focus on those those hiccups, those warts, those issues? And I, to Brian's point, I think that maintained its integrity, its objectivity. And I remember, this is a direct quote, but one of the leaders of the Community Livability Report in Lexington said, 'we had the same concern.' But in his term, he said, 'sometimes you have to feel the heat before you can see the light,' and I think there was a lot of truth to that. And to Brian's point, I think, it started in 2004, its 20th year, and I think it has maintained that because it's viewed with integrity and objectivity and truly is an unvarnished analysis."
Fogle: "Yeah. And that first year, we were all scrambling to put it together and to identify what are those blue ribbons? What are those red flags? We also said we want to really depend on secondary research. We're not going to go out and do any primary research. And we again then got subject matter experts for the subcommittees of each of those topics that we looked at, and that they were the ones responsible for coming up with it. But then somebody had to put it all together, and I really give Gary Funk, who was head of the Community Foundation at the time, Gary wrote a lot of that first one. He sure did. And then as soon as we put that one to bed, put it out, then it was time to start the second one, and we were exhausted. It was all volunteer. And so we decided, we're not going to do this every year. We're going to do it every other year. We'll make it biennial. And then the other thing we decided is we need some help. So then we hired a facilitator. First it was the Gilstraps (Cristina and Curt) that were on the faculty at Drury and then Jonathan Groves after that. But again, we needed somebody that we could pay who could make this part of their job to put it together instead of all volunteer, because it wore us all out that first year especially."
Anderson: "And ironically, in Lexington, they had a graduate student at the University of Kentucky. That was their facilitator for their report. But also they don't do that report any longer in Lexington. And again, I think that perseverance that we've had, and I think every other year, you don't move the needle necessarily on red flags every year. I mean, it takes time. And I think every other year is just right. But ironically, Lexington no longer does that report. And we still do. And I think it will certainly stay there for 20 more years and be longer."
Fogle: "Yeah. And the the other thing that, you know, it is certainly changed and, and adapted over the years as we've seen better ways to do it, the library that was on the 10th anniversary, that was the first time we really had it online and you could update it. Prior to that, it was always a printed document and that took a lot to put it together. We would try our best to get it into, not only our own constituents, but into elected leaders, to nonprofits, etc. and and then again, once it was online, you could, you could, we started doing what we call white papers. And one of the biggest things that Gilstraps and Jonathan had is we had word limits. Well, everybody wanted to talk about their issue. And it was like, well, no, we need twice that many words. And so that allowed us to put white papers out there on the website. So you could go in a little more detail than we were able to on, on the printed report."
Anderson: "In my mind, the blue ribbon of the Community Focus report is the way people have responded and reacted. I mean, it has become a focus, no pun intended, for organizations as they look at issues and priorities and whether it be the organizations who were involved initially — Community Foundation, United Way, Junior League, library, chamber, etc. but even individual, and Brian can speak to this much better than I, but it's amazing to me in a positive way, the number of of grants and funding organizations that have used, especially the red flags as a template for, for their giving, for their focus. And, and I would tell you, I mean, I'm honored and privileged to be a founding charter member of the Springfield Daily Citizen. And the Community Focus report is sort of our guidepost, if you will, for story development and for areas we want to focus on. In many ways, I know the same is true with KSMU and the public affairs mission of Missouri State. I mean, When there's areas there that have really become embedded within the priorities of a lot of organizations."
Fogle: "Yeah. And it certainly has served as a catalyst for several things that have happened in our community. One of the first was the Grant Maker's Challenge for Children, where Community Foundation, several other funders said, 'we're going to put our money together.' And so many of the red flags were children's issues, and to fund that and other things that have come out of that directly, really Springfield-Greene County Health Commission, which is now called the Healthy Living Alliance, Isabel's House Crisis Nursery came directly from that red flag. Ambassadors for Children, and again, a lot of our neighborhood came out of that neighborhood program. So it has been a great catalyst for some things that have come out of that. The other thing that I sure didn't see, but it has become an important part of as a tool is when you do grant requests, whether they're federal, state, or private funders, you typically have to do some sort of community survey. And there's one ready made for them now with the Community Focus Report. And so, so many of the nonprofits I've talked to said, 'we just have this document we send in along with our grant request that does that work for us.' So it's been very, very helpful. And I again, applaud and appreciate the expansive approach that Missouri State has taken too. One of the things we always saw it as a report card and that it our group was not something we were just going to report and point out the blue ribbons, red flags. And again, I think Missouri State and working with Community Partnership of the Ozarks to say, what are we going to do about that? Can we do a better job of really addressing those red flags in a more comprehensive way? We've tried that with Prosper Springfield to some — well, but this this will go even more deeply. So it, a lot more resources than we were able to put at it. And again, I applaud Missouri State and the folks that are taking it to again that new level."
Anderson: "And another plus, it seems to me, is that real time data. Obviously, to your point, it was in many ways the analysis of today and what happened yesterday. But the Missouri State resources and the focus they're going to have is going to have a lot of real time data that is right there and will be widely transparent and disseminated."
That's Jim Anderson and Brian Fogel. Support for making a difference is provided by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.
