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Community Collaborative
Written By: Stephanie Edwards - Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce | Issue: September - 2022
A new program maps a sustainable future for the Cashiers Valley.
As sponsor of the Urban Land Institute AdvisoryServices growth management analysis, the CashiersArea Chamber of Commerce will continue its leader-ship commitment to inclusivity and transparency.At the chamber’s invitation, representatives of the CashiersArea Community Planning Council, Chamber Board, CashiersHistorical Society, Highlands Cashiers Land Trust, DevelopCashiers Responsibly, and Vision Cashiers recently met todiscuss next steps as recommended in the Panel’s final report.ULI suggested specific functions and roles for communityorganizations in Cashiers (you can see the matrix on page 28 ofthe printed report available atCashiersAreaChamber.com).This goal of the first“Cashiers Community Collaborative”or-ganizational meeting on June 28was to confirm thesestakeholder champions’ commitment to a coordinated approachto community projects and funding.The group agreed thatdiscipline will be needed to ensure that collective efforts andresources are used as efficiently as possible.Priorities will be set up so that financial and other help fromlocal, state and federal governments and other funding sourceswill be solicited in unified manner to avoid parochial competi-tion.Other stakeholders and supporters will be invited to takepart in the initiative as plan details develop.One of the major functions recommended by ULI is creationof a nonprofit community development corporation to findand manage funding options for the purchase and lease ofdiverse products in an expanded housing market. The ULIsaid building attainable housing and promoting mixed-usedevelopment will help address critical workforce needs, whichthey called “an existential crisis for Cashiers’ small businessesand institutions.”Research is now underway to decide the best structure for the501(c)(3) nonprofit and to recruit an expert to establish initialoperations and sustainable systems.In its report, the ULI Panel recognized that Cashiers is a“special place” and the opportunity and challenges aheadare to grow either by default or by design.The CashiersCommunity Collaborative participants will work with otherstakeholders in the future to ensure we address inevitablegrowth with proactive strategies that, as the ULI Paneladvises, “ensure the qualities that have made Cashiers specialwill not be diminished.”Periodic updates on the collaborative’s work will be presentedat monthly Cashiers Planning Council meetings.
by Stephanie Edwards Executive Director, Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce
