<p> Washington County Community Conversation</p><p>September 29, 2016</p><p>Visions</p><p> Everyone has access to medical, dental, and mental health services</p><p> Everyone who wants to work can have a full-time job with living wage and benefits</p><p> We’ll take our place as the first county on the eastern seaboard and use our small population to our benefit</p><p> Public transportation system</p><p> Develop an attitude of cooperation among our towns, less competition</p><p> Every home will have broadband access</p><p> A safe place to raise families</p><p> A place we are proud to live in, young people stay, great place to raise a family</p><p> Everyone has food security (affordable, nutritious food)</p><p> An environment where people can achieve their full potential</p><p> Every young person has confidence in school system</p><p> Build the infrastructure in Washington County (places to stay, places to eat)</p><p> Elderly are taken care of</p><p> The ability to retire/age in place</p><p> Senior college is a plus</p><p> Well managed land and water</p><p> Washington County’s wells and water infrastructure are functioning well  We think of Washington County as home</p><p> Arts become an important part of our schools and communities</p><p> Improved Infrastructure will bring people</p><p> Communities work together. </p><p>Strengths </p><p> There is plenty of opportunity to get involved as there is a lot happening here</p><p> Great collaboration</p><p> Large network of conserved lands</p><p> We know each other in the community</p><p> Strong commitment to place</p><p> Environmental core – collaborative efforts with stewardship</p><p> Excellent collaboration with the community colleges and UMaine Machias</p><p> Creativity, persistence, perseverance and a toughness = great characteristics for innovation, entrepreneurship, and microenterprise</p><p> Plentiful resources available to people who want to start their own businesses – “incubator without walls”</p><p> Healthy Acadia is growing and partnering to address healthcare issues in Washington County</p><p> Two great hospitals</p><p> We have great assets, including two wildlife refuges, a scenic byway, and many natural attractions. How do we conserve and attract tourists? What is the balance?</p><p> The Community Caring Collaborative is a big asset and a model for innovative collaboration</p><p> UMM is a community and a university</p><p> Extraordinary coastline and clean waters are a huge magnet for scientific research institutions, especially in areas of climate change and marine biology</p><p> Strong respect for the rights of individuals to live the way that they want to live  Deep history here</p><p> Strong sense of family</p><p> Natural resources are spectacular</p><p> Amazing leadership and strong volunteers. People step up!</p><p>Challenges</p><p> Substance abuse</p><p> Lack of safe, affordable housing</p><p> Transportation</p><p> Generational poverty, difficult problems to address</p><p> The “us” and “them” divide needs to be bridged</p><p> Challenge of keeping businesses open year-round</p><p> People want things to be different, but they don’t want change</p><p> Washington County needs hope</p><p> Literacy is an issue in Washington County</p><p> Educational attainment rate</p><p> People starting college, but then unable to finish</p><p> Student loans</p><p> Need good early childhood education</p><p> Need to raise aspirations of people in Washington County</p><p> Need to adapt to climate change</p><p> Lack of basic skills (cooking, budgeting, etc.)</p><p> Broadband connectivity</p><p> Sometimes we don’t value all people</p><p>Building on Strengths to Address the Challenges  Convene community circles; embrace new technology for transportation; build capacity for development; asset-based community development – grow thoughtfully and with a plan</p><p> Bring funders together to address issues and merge resources</p><p> Create strategies to balance tourism and the economy; become a four-season destination, embrace winter</p><p> A willingness to share funding around collaboration</p><p> Look for long-range funding opportunities</p><p> Investing in youth: expand EdGE program; more mentoring programs with businesses; sharing of history so children can develop a strong sense of place</p><p> Build jobs, inform and imagine</p><p> K-12 education programs for entrepreneurship and technology</p><p> Apprenticeships to connect youth with jobs</p><p> Create a listening project to breakdown the “us” and “them” mentality</p><p> Create a county-wide strategic plan: what do we want? Where do we want to be?</p><p> Addressing poverty and basic needs: Become a national model (challenge: resources/funding); we can’t address government issues, but as a county, we can solve local issues together, we could become a model for this and a national example</p><p> Change perspective: Washington County is the beginning of the road, not the end of the road</p><p> Transportation; infrastructure; libraries; healthcare; activities for all ages</p><p> Transportation is a challenge – develop an Uber-like system or could we be the pilot for driverless cars in rural area?</p><p> Cultivate a sense of community outreach to newcomers</p><p> Promote green businesses, tourism, biking</p><p> Create a system or network to better utilize the assets of our elderly population</p><p> Broadband: collaborate; pursue funding; more outreach</p><p> Brand our image of Washington County  We build our aspirations</p><p> Educational attainment – break down barriers so that people who want to can go to school and/or complete their education</p><p> We need some kind of central communication that will bring us together as a county</p>