Strategic Spartanburg

Since 1987, The Spartanburg County Foundation’s Community Indicator reports have effectively used data to raise awareness about the many issues impacting the growth, health, and quality of life of the citizens of Spartanburg.  Updated every three years, the report provides a valuable resource to the community; assisting organizations in their planning, and encouraging conversation and dialogue among citizens to bring about community change.

The Spartanburg County Foundation joined with the United Way of the Piedmont to develop Strategic Spartanburg: Community Indicators VI in 2004. This document was the product of a collective effort, as the public, private, and nonprofit sectors joined together to address the pressing needs in our community. Hundreds of key experts and community leaders collected data and reviewed information concerning Family, Health, Education, Public Safety, Economics, and Environmental issues.  With the help of a nationally renowned research firm, these citizens established 10 community goals and identified 60 indicators to benchmark progress toward each goal.

Using the data in Community Indicators VI, more than 300 citizens convened to create a comprehensive plan to improve the indicators by 2010 and beyond.  This plan, Strategic Spartanburg: Community Improvement Plan 2006-2010, represents the work of ten task forces who developed priorities and opportunities for strategic action that would produce measurable impact on the quality of life in Spartanburg County for both the short and long-term.  In addition to the indicators work, taskforces also used data and information gathered by Clemson University, which assessed local youth serving agencies and programs to determine root causes of the indicators along with known best practices currently addressing them.

Each taskforce represented one of the ten goals set forth in Community Indicators VI, and reported on indicator priorities and measurable targets for 2010 and 2020.  Taskforces also recommended strategies to achieve progress, recommended “best practices,” and possible collaborations to facilitate community progress toward each goal.  Taskforces incorporated the knowledge of key experts in each goal area.

Now that we are in the implementation phase of the project, the Spartanburg County Government has signed on to be a sponsor of the process.  They, along with the United Way and the Spartanburg County Foundation have chosen a Progress Enhancement Team made up of community leaders to act as a resource and motivator to move goals into actions.  In the following pages you can read more of where we have been, where we are now, and where we are going.