ALPINE — Nearly 200 regional leaders attended last weekend’s Far West Texas Community-Building Summit organized by Alpine Community Projects at The Granada Theatre to discuss challenges and opportunities in Alpine, Fort Davis, Marfa, Presidio and surrounding areas.
After a Friday evening talk by Doug Griffiths, author of 13 Ways to Kill Your Community, the group convened on Saturday in four break-out sessions with the broad topics of organization, design, economic development and promotion. The sessions provided prompts for specific discussions on community aesthetics, attraction of new businesses, collaboration within and between each community, and more.
Specific issues expressed included addressing downtown business vacancies, forming a regional chamber of commerce, collaboration with other communities, engaging students from local schools and Sul Ross State University in community service, focusing on traffic problems and increasing daycare options.
Participants provided input using sticky notes which were posted on the walls and then collected for inclusion into summaries of each session. These summaries will be distributed to those who attended for follow-up within their home communities.
Further follow-up will come in the form of a video showing of Griffiths’ presentation within the next 30 days in several communities, including Marfa at the public library on January 29 at 6 p.m. and Fort Davis on Tuesday, February 4, at 6 p.m. at Mobile Comunidad’s Mountain View Lodge. Showing dates and times for Sanderson, at Ferguson Motors, and other areas will be announced soon.
Future related events will be scheduled to take advantage of momentum gained during the last weekend’s summit, as well as the subsequent video presentations, according to Kirsten Moody of Alpine Community Projects. “The summit will not be a ‘one and done’ event,” Moody said. “We fully intend to build on the foundation we laid as we look at concrete ways to address issues brought up at the event.”