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One of our primary goals is to educate Greenvillians about Vision 2025 and be a vehicle for building a better understanding of Greenville's steps to become one of the most livable communities in the country. Over the years, we have had a great relationship with our local media outlets, and they have been extremely supportive of the work we are doing. Below are many of the articles and citations related to Greenville Forward and Vision 2025.

 

 

2010

2010-06 Ideas abound at Dining Greenville. Metromix - " For a city to be great, is it essential for it to have great restaurants? That was one of
many questions pondered at the Dining Greenville discussion Metromix Managing Producer Melissa Hall and I attended today .

2010-05 The World is Noticing Greenville From Here. GSA Business -- Editorial by Russell Stall. "Five and a half years ago, David Shi, President of Furman University, presented Vision 2025 to a crowd of 600 people at the Carolina First Center."

2010-03 Work in Progress. G Magazine. "Russell Stall unabashedly refers to himself as a passionate cheerleader. Though he is told his story often (without the aid of a bullhorn), he never tires of using the tale of his “sixteen-year sabbatical” from Greenville to illustrate that he means what he says."

2010-02 Greenville ranks among S.C.'s healthiest counties. Greenville News. "Josh Lane, left, works out at the Cleveland Street YMCA on
Tuesday. An abundance of fitness resources has ranked Greenville among the state's healthiest counties."

2010-02 Greenville Forward and The Warehouse Theatre to Host Screening of Food, Inc. on Feb. 15. Greenville News. "Food, Inc. is a thought-provoking, challenging documentary that forces viewers to question where the food they eat every day is coming from. The film will be screened at The Warehouse Theatre on Feb. 15 at 6:30 pm. Greenville Forward and The Warehouse Theatre partnered with Whole Foods Market and local growers to offer discussion and information on local, sustainable farming practices following the screening."

2010-01 Macon tries to learn from Greenville, S.C., Example. Macon.com. "Greenville, S.C., was once a dying textile mill town. But all that has changed. Driven by a cooperative public-private effort, the city’s downtown daytime population is now 200,000 with a nighttime population that’s even higher, said Russell Stall, executive director of Greenville Forward, an organization that oversees a community initiative called Vision 2025, which has set goals for the city to achieve by 2025."

2009

2009-12 Chattanooga Stand Features Russell Stall. Executive Director Russell Stall gave a talk via IChat to Chattanooga Stand. Watch the video.

2009-12 Heroes Next Door: What would Greenville be like if it did not have heroes? Everyone knows a hero who has influenced their life. Often, these heroes do not receive public recognition and without them, our community would look quite different. Article by Marketing and Communications Director Kate Hofler in Greenville Business Magazine – “As part of Greenville Forward’s mission to enhance Greenville County’s quality of life by supporting community leaders, the nonprofit created a way to honor local heroes through the ‘Heroes Next Door’ award. The award was created two years ago in accordance with the first ‘Tomorrow Night’ event celebrating Greenville’s future…”

2009-12 Guzzardo is Hero Next Door. Catholic News - Norma Guzzardo, a member of St. Mary Magdalene Church and the Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of Columbus Council 10819, was one of three recipients of the 2009 Heroes Next Door Award. It was given by Greenville Forward, a city revitalization organization. 2009-11 Performance gives artists, others a novel model for conversation Greenville News November 2009 – “OK, first things first. Let’s get the weird name and how to pronounce it out of the way. The rest will become a lot easier. “Pecha Kucha” is pronounced ‘pe-CHAK-cha’ and comes from the Japanese term for the sound of conversation as people sit around to ‘chit-chat…’”

Pecha Kucha Greenville2009-11 Pecha Kucha’s Greenville debut: Quick-hitting event shows off city’s creativity Metromix – “It’s difficult to pronounce, but the concept for Speech is simple—a presentation format in which 20 images are shown for 20 seconds each. The idea is for creative people to share things they are passionate about with other creative people in fast-paced, visual format…”

2009-11 City is big on the arts. Greenville Journal - “Greenville will be listed as one of America’s top art towns. But finding out just how high the city is ranked in the next edition of John Villani’s ‘The 100 Best Art Towns in America: A Guide to Galleries, Museums, Festivals, Lodging and Dining,’ will have to wait until the book is released next fall…”

2009-10 Working together to make the city better. (Editorial by David Esch, Chairman of the International Task Force) The Greenville News - “It is hard to imagine Greenville without Falls Park, the impressive and unique bridge over the Reedy, the Peace Center, and the 200-plus international companies and the 70 international organizations all adding to the economy, culture and diversity of the Upstate…”

2009-10 "Greenville Named Top Micro City." The top micro North American City of the Future 2009/10 is Greenville, South Carolina, due to its strong economic potential, good human resources and high scores in business friendliness.

2009-09 “Greenville Forward Making ‘Momentum’ with Popular Monthly Series” Column by Marketing and Communications Director Kate Hofler in Greenville Business Magazine – “With a title like ‘River Dance,’ it is possible that many people signed up to attend August’s Momentum Series hosted by Greenville Forward to see Executive Director Russell Stall’s dance moves…”

2009-08 "Cities are Seeing Green." In the Upstate, the City of Greenville is working with community leaders to create a vision for the future. Russell Stall, executive director of Greenville Forward, sums up that vision: “There are 38 Greenvilles in the U.S.A, and we want to be the greenest.” Stall’s organization of public and private sector leaders is working closely with city leaders on four focus areas: health and wellness; a culture that values education; transportation and connectedness; and the environment.

2009-08 “Upstate Women’s Show" Kate Hofler and Brann Fowler represent Greenville Forward at the Upstate Women’s Show” Metromix Party Crashers

2009-08 “Greenville Forward” Community Foundation Annual Report – “Back in 2003, a group of engaged community members led by Dr. David Shi, president of Furman University, began work on Vision 2025: a planning process to address future growth in fifteen areas including social services, education, parks and open spaces. Crafting vision statements for Greenville could become was the ‘easy’ part. Then the real work began…”

2009-08 "What's Your Favorite Green?" Talk Magazine - Russell Stall, executive director of Greenville Forward: “I started a big garden in the backyard and invited a couple of neighbors to join in as well. The competition makes it more interesting.”

2009-06 “Moving Greenville Forward: Russell Stall looks back at the first four years” GSA Business – “Greenville Forward was formed in January 2006 as the facilitator of Vision 2025, a master plan on how to enhance the quality of life in Greenville. Executive Director Russell Stall discusses the evolution of the organization and its impact on economic development…”

2009-04 "Greenville Named Top Micro City" Financial Times - The top micro North American City of the Future 2009/10 is Greenville, South Carolina, due to its strong economic potential, good human resources and high scores in business friendliness.

2009-03 "Owensboro Gets Tips from Greenville" Leaders from Owensboro and Davies County will be going to Greenville, South Carolina to get some ideas on how to make over the riverfront. Russell Stall with the group Greenville Forward spoke Thursday morning at the Owensboro Chamber of Commerce Rooster Booster breakfast. Greenville, South Carolina is a city Owensboro leaders are using as a model for the city's downtown plans."

2009-01 "Greenville Place to Be for Graduates. Editorial by Kate Hofler" - "Austin, Charlotte, Atlanta, Boston, or ... Greenville? Since when did Greenville get in the mix with the top cities known for their eclectic cultures and vibrant magnetism for young professionals? The hot question on everyone's lips who knows me or any of my classmates at Furman University is the infamous, where are you going and what are you doing after you toss your mortarboard in the air."

 

2008

2008-12 “Medically underserved put strain on health care facilities” GSA Business – “A health assessment survey recently released by Greenville Forward shows the medically underserved and uninsured in Greenville are growing-at a high cost to local hospitals and health care providers…”

2008-11 “Education can reverse downward spiral” Guest Column by Dr. Judith Prince, Chair of Vision 2025 Education Task Force in Greenville News – “We travel to be educated, to see a different view of the world, and to immerse ourselves in another culture. When my son was 11, we started traveling internationally to experience first-hand our diverse planet with its diverse continents and diversity of people…”

2008-10 "Greenville Quality of Life High, Survey Says" Greenville News - "Residents rate Greenville's quality of life as "very high" or "high," but they aren't as positive about its public transportation and environment, a new survey says. Eighty-nine percent of the 700 surveyed said they were happy with quality of life, and 65 percent said quality schools are the most important factor in promoting it. But only 9 percent said "being able to get places without using your car" was a city attribute."

2008-10 “Senior launches Furman Forward on campus” The Paladin – “Nearly thirty students attended the CLP [Cultural Life Program] Wednesday, Sept. 24 entitled ‘Furman Forward: Greenville’s History and Furman’s Place in its Future.’ The purpose was to increase awareness of the new organization Furman Forward…”

2008-10 “Residents happy with Greenville quality of life: Mass transit, environmental protection weak spots in survey” Greenville News – “Residents rate Greenville’s quality of life as ‘very high’ or ‘high,’ but they aren’t as positive about its public transportation and environment, a new survey says…”

2008-10 “Report: More Lacking Health Insurance Here” The Greenville News - “When Anthony Hames’ employer cut his hours, wife Selina waited four days before seeking medical care when she got sick recently, finally going to a hospital emergency room…In the past five years, 14,500 people were added to the rolls of the uninsured 72 percent of them in working families, according to the report released today by Greenville Forward…”

2008-10 “Minor ills account for many ER visits: Hospital looks for ways to get patients treated in a better setting” Greenville News October 2008 – “More than a quarter of the visits to Greenville Memorial Hospital’s emergency room this year have been for non-emergencies, the latest community health assessment reveals…”

2008-10 “Greenville needs to stay green” The Greenville News - “Why is it so important to keep the green in Greenville? The natural beauty of the Upstate is one of our region’s greatest assets. Visitors frequently comment about the variety and abundance of so many majestic trees in the Greenville area, including Main Street itself…”

2008-10 “Green building to be focus of luncheon conversation” Greenville Journal – “Imagine living in a home that produces 10 times more electricity than it uses and you’re actually selling power to Duke Energy on a regular basis; a home that recycles water so that you’re virtually invulnerable to drought…”

2008-10 “Address issue of uninsured, underinsured” Greenville News – “In another disheartening sign of a weak economy, the number of Greenville County residents lacking health insurance is rising, according to a recent community health assessment [Conducted by Greenville Forward]…”

2008-08 “Seven students give school a second chance” Greenville Journal - “Matt McCullough almost slept through his second chance on Saturday. Volunteers went to his house Saturday morning to get him to come back to school. They knocked once, then twice, then a third time. They went to a side door and knocked on it. Finally, when they put a hanger on the doorknob, the curtain moved. After another knock, the door opened a crack. ‘Is Matthew here?’ asked Brock Koonce, a Greenville Forward employee and one of the volunteers…”

2008-08 “Latinos face barriers, leaders say” Greenville Journal - “Racial biases. Language barriers. Too little collaboration among agencies with the ability to reach out and make life easier. Those are key reasons why Greenville isn’t as welcoming as it could be to a burgeoning Hispanic community, according to 25 of the city’s civic leaders who participated in Greenville Forward’s latest ‘Momentum Series’ event focusing on challenges facing that segment of the population…”

2008-04 “Volunteering is the Strength of a Community: The Chamber commends volunteers during April, National Volunteer Month” Outlook: A Publication of the Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce - “Chances are that in some point in our life, you have been touched by the compassion of a volunteer. April is National Volunteer Month, and across the United States, organizations are recognizing those dedicated individuals who donate their time, energy and talents to their community.”

2008-02 “The business of engagement” Editorial by Russell Stall in GSA Business - “Do you have someone who inspired you to make a difference in the community? Is there someone who challenged you to get involved? Everyone needs someone who inspired, shaped and encouraged them…”

 

2007

2007-05 “Greenville Forward offers annual report: More than 2,000 hours were spent on Vision 2025 program in the last year” Greenville Journal - “The group leading the Vision 2025 push recently completed its first year trying to steer the future of Greenville. Greenville Forward’s first full year in operation saw more than 2,000 volunteer hours in 109 task force meetings, more than 250 people join 18 steering boards, and getting 117 people to run for county boards and commissions, according to a report released this week…”

2007-04 “Creating a sense of place: Vision 2025 sees business benefit in quality of life” GSA Business - “At first blush, when you look at the list of initiatives Vision 2025 is involved in, there doesn’t seem to be a lot that is business-related…” 2007-03 “Rising Star: Councilman Jim Burns Looks to the Future.” – Upstate Beat March 2007- “If there’s a poster boy for the forward-looking segment of Greenville society, his name is Jim Burns. Less that two months shy of his 37th birthday, this home-grown wonder has it all: Youth and modest good looks, a family as all American as apple pie…”

2007-01 “Citizens give health care a thorough examination” The Greenville News - “Group comes together to rate system, offer ideas for fixes…How would you rank the nation’s health-care system on a scale of one to 10? For a group of folks in Greenville, it scarcely ranks a five...”

 

2006

2006-10 "Three Favorite Cities." Southern Living. "Come ramble along the wide and shady sidewalks of Main Street, past parks, concert venues, hotels, restaurants, offices, and shops. You won't be alone--just about any time of the week folks of all ages celebrate enterprising Greenville."

2006-04 "Seen the New SKY Magazine Everyone is Talking About?" SKY Magazine. "Welcome to downtown Greenville, South Carolina, where they have quite a few mice but no use for mousetraps, and multitudes of tourists but not need for tourist traps. After all, why rely on tourist traps when Greenville, the most upbeat city in the upstate, can lure visitors downtown with the biggest piece of cheese this side of the moon--a thriving, eclectic Main Street that bustles with activity year-round?" (April 2006)

2006-04 "Put Some South in Your Sox" from the Boston Globe. " On the banks of the Reedy River, a renaissance is taking place. A once vacant downtown has been given a new lease on life, and the joie de vivre is contagious. Brick by brick, block by block, this small Southern city is being born again. And soon, game by game, new Red Sox fans will be created in a most unlikely place."

2006-03 "Stall has eyes on future with Greenville Forward." Greenville News. "Looking out the window of his office on Reedy View Drive, Russell Stall can see the children's garden area of Linky Stone Park. The bike trail that will link Greenville to Travelers Rest lies just outside his door. Stall sees signs all around him that Greenville is heading in the right direction."

2006-01 "Greenville Forward Continues to Move Vision 2025 in Right Direction." Greenville.com. "Greenville Forward has announced the addition of Baxter Wynn as Chairman of its Board of Directors. Wynn, Minister of Pastoral Care & Community Relations at First Baptist Church - Greenville, will begin his duties has Chair immediately."

2006-01 "Grant fuels vision for Greenville's future." Greenville News. "Greenville's future starts now. Greenville Forward, the group charged with guiding the development of Greenville's Vision 2025 plan, has received seed money in the form of a $300,000 grant from the Community Foundation of Greenville. "

 

2005 and before

2005-10 "Greensboro: The Road to Greenville." Action Greensboro loads a couple of buses full of city and county political leaders, high-ranking city staff members.

2005-09 "Stopping the Brain Drain." Anderson Journal. A Greenville Forward is conducting a study among juniors and seniors at Clemson, College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina, Presbyterian College, Citadel, and Furman in hopes to learn the factors that can help keep our students in South Carolina. We are quoted extensively in this Anderson Journal article.

2005-09 "Hall Visits Greenville for Clearer Vision." Recently, representatives from Gainesville, Georgia visited Greenville on a tour sponsored by the SC Council for Competitiveness, Greenville Forward, and the City of Greenville. Read their positive impressions of Greenville.

2005-08 "Stall to Steer Vision 2025" Greenville Journal - Greenville Forward is charged with championing Greenville's Vision 2025 forward. Russell Stall is its Executive Director and co-founder.

1973 “Reedy River’s Full Potential Studied” – The Greenville News – “The full potential of Reedy River, a natural stream through Greenville that has been pollution plagued for years, is being studied by a special task force…”

1973 “Bicycle Trail Still Possible” The Greenville News – “A proposal to build a two-mile bicycle trail along Reedy River between the Reedy River Greenway and the Greenville Country Club attracted enough attention Tuesday among Greenville City Council members to keep the project alive…”

 
 

 

For the first year and a half, Greenville Magazine wrote an article about Vision 2025. Greenville Magazine and the Vision Voice, sponsored by the Cliffs, is an important vehicle in teaching Greenvillians more about the Vision and its status. These are good summaries of the visions.

"Making the Vision a Reality" (January 2007)

"A recent headline in North Carolina read: 'Raleigh: Greenville with envy.' This regional admiration points to the fact that Greenville has become a place where people want to work and live, and other cities would like to find a way to copy that success. One of the contributing factors to that enviable quality of life is Greenville's Vision for the Future."

"Healthcare & Wellness" (December 2006)

"All of us have opinions on health care in the Upstate because all of us have experience with it. Whether we are insured or uninsured, running a small business or a large corporation, an administrator or a consumer, suffering from chronic illness or not, we have ideas, concerns, and questions. The Vision 2025 Health and Wellness Task Force is getting ready to collect those ideas through a series of community dialogues planned for 2007."

"Meet Greenville Forward" (November 2006)

"Almost every business or organization has at least one: a strategic plan that required hours and hours of effort but was forgotten almost as soon as it was published. Greenville Forward was established to see that Vision 2025 never becomes a dust-gathering shelf ornament."

"Internationalism" (October 2006)

"It's not your mother's Greenville anymore -- at least, it's not the Greenville she may have known growing up. It's a much more diverse place to live, a place that's been enriched with an influx of people from many different parts of this country and many other nations around the world."

"Government" (September 2006)

"The goals for government set forth in the vision 2025 plan include having an efficient and effective government, reducing the number of independent taxing districts, cultivating an informed and active electorate, and having both district and at-large representation on Greenville County Council."

"Planning and Infrastructure" (August 2006)

"Whether you call it little Atlanta, home to the shops at Gridlock, or simply your worst traffic nightmare, Woodruff Road has become Greenville's most obvious example of what happens in the absence of planning. Thanks to shop after shop, and strip mall after strip mall, all emptying onto a thoroughfare that can't accommodate that many curb cuts, getting around is difficult at best."

"Transportation" (July 2006)

"Ignore some issues and they go away. Ignore other issues and they become problems. That's where Greenville stands with the issue of transportation. It is a long-ignored issue, says Pat Haskell-Robinson, one on the verge of implosion. 'Unless not only planning is done, but financing for the plan is also found, we are not going to be able to continue our economic growth,' she says."

"A Master Plan" (June 2006)

"It's hard to have a meaningful discussion if you don't have the right people at the table. That's why the Vision 2025 Parks and Open Spaces Task Force has brought Greenville County together with a make-up that includes representatives from Upstate Forever and Friends of the Reedy River, along with recreation directors from Greenville County and each of the cities in the county -- Travelers Rest, Greenville, Simpsonville, Mauldin, Fountain Inn, and Greer..."

"The Ties that Bind" (May 2006)

"If you build it, they will come. Or maybe they'll come back. That's the idea behind efforts to increase opportunities for young professionals so that they'll want to move to Greenville and stay in Greenville, a priority that emerged from Vision 2025 discussions. One such effort began in October 2005 and just eight months later, is going strong. The ideas behind Professionals United for Leadership and Social Enrichment (PULSE) came out of focus groups conducted after the Vision process...."

"A Center for the Arts" (April 2006)

"Vision 2025, the plan for Greenville's future unveiled last year, calls for the area to become an internationally recognized center for the arts in the next twenty years. This, planners say, is an entirely possible goal and one that we're making tangible progress toward. 'I think Greenville has started on the right track,' said Don Koonce, president of Envision, Inc. and chair of the Vision 2025 Arts Committee....."

"Regionalism and the Vision" (March 2006)

"As the Vision 2025 process continues, many people involved in the plan for Greenville 's future see that if the plan is confined only to Greenville rather than taking a broader view of where we are headed, it will be shortsighted. That's why the word 'regionalism' has been used in conjunction with many different aspects of the Vision 2025 plan.

To understand regionalism, it is important to take a look at what happens in the absence of regional planning. According to Dr. Barry Nocks, . "

"Moving Forward" (February 2006)

"Vision 2025 was developed by community leaders and area resident who came together to create a vision for Greenville's future. The plan, unveiled a little over a year ago, consists of 16 areas of interest, ranging from coolness to diversity. Its aim is to drive the area's growth by making Greenville and the surrounding region distinct from other parts of the country...."

"Branding Greenville" (January 2006)

"In this column, we take a look at Vision 2025, a plan for Greenville's future that covers the arts, coolness, diversity, economy, education, environment, families and social services, government, health care, international issues, parks.... This month, we talk to two people involved in the planning stages of the Vision and in the implementation of Vision initiatives. The topic is the branding of Greenville and the Upstate region...."

"Diversity" (December 2005)

"...this month the topic is diversity, with questions answered by Audrey Dodson, assistant director of Furman University's Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics, and Public Leadership, which has developed the Diversity Leadership Academy of Upstate South Carolina..."

"Rails to Trails" (November 2005)

"Rails to trails is shorthand for turning abandoned railroad rights-of-ways into hiking, walking or biking trails. From just a few minor stretches in the early 1980s, the movement has captured the imagination of communities across the country. Today, more than 13,000 miles of former rail lines serve as active trails."

"What is Coolness" (October 2005)

"This month the topic is coolness, and input is provided by two young professionals--Erin Hartness and Brian D. Coker--who recently participated in a focus group conducted by Russell Stall of Greenville Forward designed to gain information on the best ways to attract and retain young talent in Greenville."

"Q&A with Russell Stall" (September 2005)

"This month, questions have been directed to Russell Stall, executive director of Greenville Forward, a new organization dedicated to seeing that the goals set forth in the vision are achieved."

"Q&A with Josh Lane" (August 2005)

"Each month, this column gives a voice to Vision 2025, the plan for Greenville's future unveiled late last year. In this space, we'll be talking to many people involved in developing the plan and making it a reality. Since a plan is only a plan until it's implemented, we talk first to Josh Lane, who heads a Leadership Greenville alumni group charged with keeping the effort from being just words on paper."

"For the Future" (July 2005)

"Vision 2025 was designed by community leaders and area residents who came together to create a vision for Greenville's future. the plan, unveiled a little over a year ago, consists of 16 areas of interest, ranging from coolness to diversity. Its aim is to drive the area's growth by making Greenville and the surrounding region distinct from other parts of the country."

 

 

 

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