Headwaters Regional Development Commission
Report date
December 2020
What has been most instrumental to your progress?
One of the most beneficial components of our grant was the integration of the task force groups. Our project covered 5 counties and each county had their own task force group made up of different members of the community. We had individuals representing the public and private sector, local cities and counties, transportation providers, social services, medical, and the public. This was important because it gave us a 'boots on the ground' approach where we could gather what types of transportation gaps were present and what end users were needing. This allowed us to compile potential ideas for future programming and assess the current transportation inventory, so we knew where to focus resources. Additionally, the creation of the task force groups created a large networking web that allowed for transportation providers and community members to find ways to improve current gaps. In retrospect, it also gave us access to other partners that could help address any obstacles we might encounter throughout the process of creating new programming.
Another aspect of our project, which builds from the above answer, that was instrumental was the integration of pilot programming options. This gave the task force groups the opportunity to test potential new services or projects to assess viability and sustainability. This is especially important in rural regions, like ours, because resources and capacity are scarce, so having the ability to test and/or analyze different options can be very beneficial. Much of the pilot testing process involved a multitiered approach where we used the inventory of current services, compiled by task force members, to see what areas we were succeeding in and then compared that to the areas where we were lacking. Then we took the recommended pilot programs and assigned priority depending on parameters set by each county task force. Finally, the groups were able to narrow down the most feasible of programs and begin planning different aspects of the pilot ideas. At its core, this really allowed for our task force communities to uncover what works best for their areas, including the transportation users and providers.
Key lessons learned
One of the major lessons we learned, during this project, was the challenges brought on by conducting programming in a rural region, especially due to the large size of the project area. Within our area, the lack of capacity for transportation resources, coupled with the sheer large size of the region, put stress on the grant itself. Many of our task force groups wanted to stretch funding to close as many gaps as possible, in the 5 counties we covered, but found that the grant was more of a support tool that would help different entities come together to improve the gaps, not be a one stop shop. In the beginning this caused the project to slow and created some tension among task force members. In turn, many of the partners couldn't agree on where to begin and found themselves at a cross-roads. This was not necessarily a failure but more a growing pain in the projects timeline, which ended up being needed because it forced the project members to regroup and find more applicable solutions. Midway through, they realized that this would be an ongoing project, well past the BUSH Grant's time.
In direct correlation, another area where we had some lessons to learn involved integrating public feedback and participation. Many of the local governments, agencies, and organizations we worked with had great insight into what transportation services were needed and where we had gaps to focus on. However, one piece of the puzzle was getting the public involved on a more permanent basis. Transportation is a very big issue in our region and if we can't get the public to attend, then how can we even begin to address other problems. At the start, we were able to garner some public feedback and have a few task force members gather community support, although we didn't get the needed public viewpoint. As time went on, it got much more difficult to involve public community members as often as we wanted, which then caused task force members to spend extra time talking with local citizens. This caused some inefficiencies in our timeline and forced us to update tasks and reset deadlines. Again, I wouldn't say this was a failure but a lessoned learned because it nudged group members to change course and work harder at involving those that are affected by transportation most.
Reflections on the community innovation process
Generating ideas was probably the most important aspect to successfully completing our work. As mentioned before, rural communities have very limited resources and find it difficult to get any further than identifying the needs. In addition, the financial impact to creating more programming becomes another barrier that is difficult to overcome, so many project ideas don't get to the stage of creating ideas. In fact, many cities and counties have put important transportation issues on the backburner for the service providers to handle but they are also limited in their ability, so the work doesn't get started. The BUSH grant allowed us to follow the steps to generating ideas and even putting some through to the implementation stage, which was a huge success for our region. Now that we have tangible evidence of new programming, our communities have a roadmap in which to continue the work where we left off with our task force members.
Progress toward an innovation
I believe our group achieved an innovation through our newly implemented transportation guide, which covers all five regions and connects community members to transportation services they didn't even know we had. This helps close the gap of 'lack of information' and sets forth the opportunity for the public to know what resources are most beneficial for them. As has been the theme, our rural community lacks many resources and what we do have usually gets stretched too thin. This, in itself, creates a wall that's impermeable to breakthrough and gets in our way to innovation. This project gave our region the needed push to think outside the box and start implementing programs that help our communities meet transportation needs. Not only that, our task force members can use this project as an outline to continue the work and apply it to other areas of transportation as needed.
What it will take to reach an innovation?
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What's next?
The success of the BUSH grant helped our organization expand our transportation work and led to a partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). This project, with MnDOT, is a Regional Transportation Coordinating Council that builds on the work we accomplished with BUSH as a means to creating more programming that addresses the gaps uncovered in the BUSH grant project. The awarding of this partnership has created a pathway for us to continue the BUSH work on a larger scale and with more resources. Our organization is fortunate that the BUSH grant was so successful as it was a catalyst for future projects.
If you could do it all over again...
One piece of advice I would give myself would be to spend less time keeping task force members engaged and committed and allow them to leave the group and spend more time looking for those who want to be a part of the project. There were many times when a group member would be absent, not engaged, or even lacked excitement to be on the task force but would stay on because they committed to doing so. This had an adverse affect on the other members and our groups would spend time trying to motivate them. If we have an individual not willing to participate, then it slows down progression and can bring down the overall moral of the group. However, my time could have been better used in focusing on the ones there, who wanted to be, and looking for others to join that would be a better fit. Sometimes you have to know when to let go of a team member for the greater good of the project.
One last thought
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