There is something valuable about getting a group of community and business leaders out of their normal surroundings. We recently returned from our eighth Inter-City Visit, this time traveling to Athens, Georgia, with more than 30 leaders from across our four-county region. Every year, I’m reminded that these trips are about much more than the places we visit. They are about perspective.
When we spend our time focused on our own communities, it is easy to become consumed by the challenges immediately in front of us. Getting outside of that environment allows us to see how another community is approaching many of the same issues.
In Athens, we explored housing, downtown development, workforce development, community partnerships and major event facilities. We saw ideas in practice that gave us new ways to think about opportunities here at home.
Our visit to The Classic Center was a good example. As Ames continues to explore the possibility of an events center, seeing a 373,000-square-foot facility that welcomes approximately 600,000 people each year provided a perspective that is difficult to gain from a presentation or report.
But some of the most valuable moments happen between the scheduled stops.
They happen on the bus, over breakfast, or while walking downtown. They happen when leaders from different communities and industries have time to talk, ask questions and get to know one another.
That is one of the things I value most about the Inter-City Visit. We have an incredible group of leaders across Boone, Greene, Hamilton and Story counties. Bringing them together for several days creates relationships and conversations that continue long after we return home.
We are not looking for another community to copy. We are looking for ideas, relationships and perspective. Some ideas may have an immediate application. Others may simply prompt a conversation that leads somewhere years from now. Either way, there is value in seeing what is possible. We leave Ames for a few days, but the goal is always the same: to come home with a better understanding of our own community and a few new ideas about where we can go next.