From the Bench: November 2011
Ours is a culture whose time is marked by momentous events, usually tragic, and documented by an explosion of media coverage. My father’s generation sacrificed to win World War II and put a man on the moon. Baby Boomers lost a president to assassination, endured the Vietnam conflict and navigated the constitutional challenge of Watergate. Generation X witnessed the Reagan assassination attempt, the death of a princess, and the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Millenials were bombarded with non-stop coverage of chaos again in the White House and the horror of September 11.
Most of these generational bookmarks were sudden and unexpected in nature. Yet others were of gradual assent, making their ultimate impact only a matter of time which neither denial nor avoidance could prevent. Florida is at a critical point in its modern history as it faces issues of gradual assent yet so significant that only those incurably blinded by the distractions of Kim Kardashian’s marital troubles can be in denial.
As the fourth largest state with growing demands for infrastructure, water and energy, we face opportunities and challenges that will require collective action to realize any hope for a return to the dream of prosperity. The composition of the economy is in flux, leaving structural issues of labor supply and demand with the need to create over one million jobs by 2020 and accommodate seven million more Florida residents by the year 2030.
Difficulty leads to triumph when those impacted acknowledge the nature of the problem, assert themselves as part of the solution and rise together to take back control of the world seemingly wrested from them. The structural economic challenges we face as a nation and a state call for such action, and the close of 2011 gives witness to the power of Florida’s potential.
Readers familiar with The Florida Chamber Foundation’s Six Pillars™ framework recognize its role in focusing disparate interests to discuss and act upon on the issues challenging Florida’s future. In concert with the continuous measurement of The Florida Scorecard, business and community leaders have leveraged the common platform created by the Six Pillars™ by demonstrating the value of integrated planning. Last month, the Florida Chamber Foundation released the latest iteration of its 20-year strategic plan designed to secure Florida’s future. The work in this document represents a collaborative process involving hundreds of Floridians, representing business, civic, elected and other diverse stakeholders.
Members of this Six Pillars Caucus System™ focused their efforts on a horizon between two and 20 years. The Six Pillars 20-year Strategic Plan™ takes a long-term perspective of what is needed to propel the state into a leadership position and strives to bypass short term thinking and build the road to our shared future. This iteration of the Six Pillars 20-year Strategic Plan™ presents policy options for further research, elaboration and partnering with organizations throughout the state. You can view a copy by clicking here.
October also witnessed the release of Palm Beach County’s Six Pillars plan (see the Six Pillars Communities update in this newsletter) as the first large, urban county to pioneer the difficult work of consensus across land mass and multiple jurisdictions. Broward County is soon to follow, joined by the 29 rural counties organized in designated regions known as Rural Areas of Critical Economic Concern, or RACECs.
We invite you to read these plans with an eye toward accomplishing the goals, strategies and tactics contained herein and ask for your partnership and input as we move forward. Join us in the further deliberations of the Six Pillars Caucus System™ scheduled throughout 2012 and enabled by our collaborative website. Look for announcements in your county or region for opportunities to participate in local strategic planning processes, as part of the Florida Chamber Foundation’s Six Pillars Communities™ program which will serve to inform the statewide plan’s evolution. Finally, stay connected to the progress we make via The Florida Scorecard (www.TheFloridaScorecard.com).
Only together can we prevent the challenges we face from becoming a generational bookmark in time whose pages contain footnotes of inaction and denial.
