South Florida delegation visiting the state’s capital to see what makes it so successful
Austin – progressive, innovative, collaborative, forward-thinking! While that may read like a marquee written for the capital city by the chamber of commerce, it’s actually what has attracted a distinguished delegation from Florida. Next week, 50 community leaders, elected officials and industry representatives from the Fort Lauderdale area will visit Austin for a four-day fact-finding trip organized by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance (GFLA). The alliance serves Broward County, cities and businesses in the area, and is the county’s public-private partnership for economic development.
The purpose of the trip is for the delegation to learn more about Austin’s successful endeavors related to issues such as education, transportation, infrastructure, health care and economic development. GFLA is hopeful that the information gathered about successful innovations and collaborations on all types of issues may be applied to similar challenges in the Fort Lauderdale area.
Gail Bulfin, GFLA vice president for membership and the trip’s director, says the city’s “world-class reputation” was a driving factor in picking Austin over six other U.S. cities for this exploratory trip. Similar in size to Fort Lauderdale, Bulfin said Austin also scored points because of its thriving business community, its reputation as a center for innovation and the “great personality of the city.” This is not the GFLA’s first foray into city visits for economic development purposes. In 2009, a similar trip was made to Charlotte, N.C. Information gathered there was incorporated in the Fort Lauderdale area to enhance similar programs.
Members of various GFLA committees that address health care, education, transportation, etc. will be meeting with their counterparts in Austin during the Jan. 10-13 visit. Austin Mayor Steve Adler will ensure that participants have access to assistant city managers, parks and recreation officials and those in city government who are helping address chronic homelessness. The GFLA representatives will visit 20 sites and meet with Austin City Limits concert series executives, local media publishers and reporters and officials with the Travis County’s Central Health District. They will also visit Dell Medical Center, the Austin Independent School District, The University of Texas at Austin and a number of business incubators.
The Alliance visitors will include representatives from seven large Florida cities, a public transportation group, a Broward County commissioner, a member of the Broward League of Cities, executives from two hospital districts and three education institutions. They realize that by hearing about successful initiatives and sharing best practices as well as lessons learned from failed initiatives, the potential to save millions of dollars in the future is great.
As indicated by the GFLA initiative, collaboration is quickly becoming a solution to many governmental challenges. If public officials can learn from the successes and failures of others, taxpayers benefit. And, if public and private collaborations are successful, everyone wins. The Austin visitors will be warmly welcomed. Here’s hoping that great conversations lead to many successful initiatives in the near future.