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NILES — The Greater Niles Chamber of Commerce, Buchanan Area Chamber of Commerce, community leaders and enFocus, a local nonprofit dedicated to building stronger communities, have launched a strategic planning effort to address community concerns in the Niles-Buchanan area. The strategic plan will identify opportunities and prioritize initiatives that will increase economic development in the Niles-Buchanan region over a five-year timeframe. An advisory committee of 15 community leaders has revealed early interest in tackling key issues including workforce development, housing access and availability, and downtown development among others.

As an initial step, community input is desired to help inform the direction and priorities of the plan.

“While the members of our task force are local residents, we feel it is essential to understand the community needs directly from members of the community, for this reason we are requesting participation in a survey throughout the month of November and early December” noted Ryan Boeskool, Executive Director of the Greater Niles Chamber of Commerce.

Residents are invited to share feedback through a Community Input Survey online. Those without internet access can participate through paper surveys available at the Niles District Library, Buchanan District Library and the Niles-Buchanan YMCA. To provide thoughts and contributions to this strategic planning effort, residents are requested to submit responses no later than December 15th 2022.

At the conclusion of the survey, the advisory committee will set priority areas and guide decision-making and create working subcommittees with subject matter experts to develop projects with measurable action plans.