What do Fort Worth, Oklahoma City, Chattanooga, Branson, Portland, Eugene and Greenville have in common? Each is a great city that has been visited by business and governmental leaders as part of the Greater Waco Chamber’s Leadership InterCity Visit series.
Annually some 20 to 30 leaders have invested three or more days to learn about innovative ideas, programs, initiatives and best practices that could be adapted and implemented in Greater Waco. During this year’s visit we heard Greenville’s mayor, chamber, innovation and economic development leaders tell about a city’s transformation that was not tied to a single project as was the case with the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga or the Landing in Branson, but rather to a series of strategic public-private investments.
The Hyatt Greenville hotel and conference center was a catalytic project when it opened in 1982 to anchor the north end of downtown’s Main Street. The hotel was followed by the Peace Center for the Performing Arts in 1990 as a southern anchor development. A decade later the circa 1925 Poinsett Hotel—inhabited for years by pigeons!—underwent a $25 million makeover and reopened as a Westin hotel.
The star in the city’s crown, however, is the Falls Park and Liberty Bridge that opened in 2004. Mayor Knox White told us that most Greenville residents didn’t know there was a natural waterfall in the middle of downtown since it was covered for decades by a concrete bridge. During our visit, we joined citizens and visitors in strolling across the 345-foot-long pedestrian bridge that is cantilevered toward the waterfall by cables from two 90-foot-tall masts. When city leaders proposed closing the bridge to make way for a park at the falls, they were met with vocal and persistent opponents who feared massive traffic congestion.
“When we closed the bridge nothing happened,” White said. “Nothing!” (He said “Nothing happened” three or four times for emphasis.)
As impressed as we were of the Falls Park, Class A office and residential buildings, high-rise Hampton Inn and Courtyard hotels on the river, and a new ballpark for the Class A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, we were equally envious of the variety of restaurants, bars and retail establishments and galleries that made a walk on the tree-shaded and immaculately maintained Main Street a pleasant experience.
Our Waco delegation also toured the BMW manufacturing plant in the regional city of Spartanburg and visited the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research that has become a top 10 graduate automotive engineering program attracting companies to the park that want to tap into the best emerging minds in automotive technology.
We were briefed by high-impact entrepreneurs in the Next Innovation Center where tech start-ups, growing businesses and even angel investors rent and share space, coffee, and brainpower. The creative vibe in the Next Center is so strong that walls are covered with writable surfaces so great ideas can be scribbled down anywhere, anytime.
A leading national site selector told us of the importance of branding as a region and having the talent and real estate ready-to-go when economic development projects come our way and we heard first-hand the success that has resulted from Upstate Alliance doing just that.
The Waco delegation was led by Chamber Board Chair Don Moes and Mayor Jim Bush. Other participants were Marty Bush; Dr. Steve Corwin; Randy Cox, board chair of McLennan Community College and a member of the Chamber Board; Bob Davis, president of the Waco Business League and a past chair of the Chamber; Stewart Kelly, Chair-elect of the Chamber; Johnette McKown, President of McLennan Community College and a member of the Chamber Board; Aaron McMillan, Presenting Sponsor of the Leadership InterCity Visit and Kimberly McMillan; Also Ed Page, Vice Chair and Treasurer of the Chamber; Valerie Robinson, a member of the Chamber Board; Terry Stevens, Immediate Past Board Chair of the Chamber and Elaine Stevens; Jim Vaughan, President of the Chamber and Patty Vaughan; and the following member of the Chamber staff—Linda Beasley, Executive Vice President; Ken Hampton, Sr. V.P. Community Development; Sarah Roberts, Sr. V.P. Economic Development; and Chris McGowan, Director of Urban Development.
At a debriefing on our last day in Greenville, Ed Page expressed perhaps the most important lesson learned from the visit when he said, metaphorically, “We need to find our ‘bridge’ to tear down!”