The Cook County Go Team is looking for at least 500 county residents who will give half an hour of their time to help evaluate the county economy and share their views on what should happen with it. You can participate by going to the Go Team Community Perception Survey online and filling it out. You can find the survey at: www.surveymonkey.com/s/76MFYCV.
The Go Team is a group of about 20 individuals from around the county who have gathered together to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the county economy and develop a vision for the future that can help make the county a more prosperous place. For example, it is understood that the county must find ways to create opportunities for more young families to work, own homes, raise their children and prosper here.
The Go Team project is called “Go Cook County: Creating Sustainable Prosperity for All.” It is funded by the Cook County Board, the City of Grand Marais, the Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority, Arrowhead Electric and others. The Go Team is being guided in its work by Northspan Group, a nonprofit, Duluth-based economic development consultant.
Go Team members have just finished surveying almost 100 business owners and managers with a set of questions much like those in the “community perception survey.” Now it is the public’s turn to weigh in with their views on how the county economy is doing, what they love about living here and what they would like to see improved, challenges they face and barriers they might need help in overcoming.
The Go Team hopes to get at least 500 responses to its community perception survey by Dec. 15. When results of that survey are tallied and brought together with results of the business survey, plus a comprehensive evaluation of data about the county economy—being done by the Arrowhead Regional Development Commission— the Go Team will embark on an intensive effort to distill out those economic development issues, opportunities and barriers that should be at the center of economic planning by the county board, the EDA, the city of Grand Marais and other anchor institutions, such as the schools.
Out of all this activity, the Go Team hopes to fashion a practical, cost-effective and common-sense economic development plan for the county. The Go Team will focus on ways to make the county more prosperous while protecting the community values most important to county residents.
If you cannot take the community perception survey online, you can pick up a hard copy of the survey at the Grand Marais Library, the county auditor’s office in the Cook County Courthouse and at Cook County Higher Education, 300 West Third Street.
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