Another Helping Small Towns Succeed Success

The Heartland Center's annual institute was held in Fredericksburg, Texas with participants from five states in attendance. This training program, offered annually since 1992, is the Center's signature training event for community development practitioners and community leaders.

The Texas Department of Rural Affairs and the Texas Rural Innovators Forum provided scholarships and co-sponsored this year's institute. The participant group included state and city staff, university faculty, economic development personnel, community development staff, representatives from foundations and Heartland Center board members. This years three-day institute covered the following topics:

• Clues to Community Survival
• Leadership Styles and Practices
• Appreciative Inquiry
• Branding Your Community
• Building Social Capital
• HomeTown Competitiveness
  

As with all Heartland Center programs, each day was evaluated by participants, and the following day began with a report on that evaluation and adjustments if needed. The curriculum and materials were highly rated by the participants and trainers Milan Wall, Vicki Luther and Kurt Mantonya were pleased with the entire event. "We are very happy with the feedback we received and the number of people that indicated that they will be using the tools and lessons gleaned from this workshop back home," commented Milan Wall.