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Better than Great! hosts community meeting
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Participants of the Community Visioning Workshop brainstorm ideas for the future of Great Bend in this Nov. 8, 2018, file photo. A second workshop is set for Feb. 7 and the community is invited to get involved.

Last November, the Great Bend - Better Than Great! steering committee invited the public to a Community Visioning Workshop to discuss what residents would like Great Bend to look like in 20 years or so. Because that meeting was so successful, a second community workshop is planned. It will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, at the Best Western Angus Inn Courtyard, 2920 10th St.

Jan Peters, president of the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce, said two hours sounds like a long meeting, but at the Nov. 8 gathering people came away wanting more.

“It was two hours of engaged dialogue,” she said. “We’re scheduled a second meeting because everyone was so engaged that night.”

A steering committee that includes Barton County Young Professionals has been working on the project called Great Bend - Better Than Great! for several months, but members hope to hear from every segment of the community.

“It was interesting to see different people at different tables,” Peters said. “It’s a project that our community really needs right now. Every community needs a vision.”

Mark Mingenback, a cochairman of Better Than Great!, said the diverse makeup of the first meeting brought people together from all walks of life. There were business owners from minority backgrounds, parents with school-age children and older homeowners. “We had a lady at our table who is a Rosewood Services client,” he said. Rosewood serves adults with development disabilities.

“I found the evening to be a trusting evening where you could say what you wanted to say,” Mingenback said.

Cochair Regan Reif described that meeting as “very forward-focused; it was solutions-based.” 

The community will hear some of the findings and recommendations of the Great Bend - Better than Great! project at the Great Bend Chamber of Commerce & Economic Development’s 97th annual meeting and banquet on Feb. 23. But whatever happens, those involved have learned there is no quick fix for the challenges ahead.

“There is no silver bullet, but our committee has the ability to facilitate dialog among multiple stakeholders,” Reif said. “That’s been really powerful to witness.”