The St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of Greater St. Joseph are joining together to start a visioning process.

According to a press release, the two are partnering to lead the community, business and non-profits through the process to determine what residents want St. Joseph’s future to look like and what steps need to be taken to achieve that future.

President and CEO of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce Patt Lilly said the Chamber and United Way had an initial meeting this week to begin “foresight planning.”

“It’s really a planning process that focuses on what the future looks like. If you take data and the trends that are supported by the data, what would those trends tell you if certain things happen over the next 20 years in St. Joseph.” Lilly said. “I think, for us in St. Joseph, it’s really a matter of saying, ‘How do we take our community to that next level?’ How do we become the kind of place that people want to move to whether it’s to live here, to work here, whatever the case may be. How do we become that community that, I think, most of us believe we can be but we just simply haven’t put forward a plan that brings us all together as various entities and as a community to work toward that future.”

Lilly said the process will last through the next several months and will be lead by Rebecca Ryan, a nationally recognized economist and futurist with Next Generation Consulting.

“I’m excited about the opportunity because, at the end of the day, we’re salesmen at the Chamber. From an economic development standpoint, we’re trying to sell the community, not only to the companies that are here… but also new companies that may be looking at us, why do they want to invest here, why do they want to create jobs here. So in that context, we have to be the kind of community where people want to live,” Lilly said. “What we will come out with is not necessarily a shopping list, if you will… but a very concrete vision for the future and the things that need to occur to get us to that future over the next 20 years, and that will take the resources of the entire community.”

The Chamber and United Way held an initial meeting this week and the plan is to hold many other small group meetings. Additional public input is planned throughout the spring and summer.