Dr. Jim Boyle

Superintendent

Temple ISD

Dr. Marc Nigliazzo

President

Temple College
 

Mark Watson
City Manager
City of Temple

Larry Ruggiano
President
Temple Economic Development Corporation

Thomas Baird
Attorney
Baird, Crews, Schiller & Whitaker

Steve Niemeier
Certified Public Accountant
Brockway, Gersbach, McKinnon & Niemeier

Larry Jackson

President/CEO
LPJ Enterprises, Inc. dba Classic Homes
 

Louis Casey
President
Casey’s Furniture, Inc.
 

Ken Johnson
Chief Financial Officer
Scott & White Hospital

Marvin Grelle

President

Keystone Homes

Ken Higdon
President/CEO
Temple Chamber of Commerce

MISSION

The mission of the Temple 20/20 Alliance is to prepare and implement a broadly supported Strategic Plan which will guide and energize the business and population growth of our city through the next two decades.

STRATEGY

There is a clear strategy underpinning this plan:

We will concentrate on developing our commercial, industrial, research and airport related opportunities.  We are confident that a growing base of economic vitality in these areas will drive beneficial growth in new jobs, land development, housing, retail and recreation. In anticipation of this growing vitality we will work with our businesses, public agencies, citizens and other partners to develop a vision of what Temple will look like as it grows into the future.  We will then take steps necessary to insure that our city conforms to that vision while becoming a better place to live, work and do business.

VISION FOR SUCCESS

We will be successful when we achieve continuous, sustainable, upward, annual growth over each successive year made up of quality  elements which protect or improve our tax base.  We will be successful when our efforts improve the beauty and livability of our city and heighten the sense of demonstrated pride we all share as citizens of Temple.

OBJECTIVES

1.             Enhance the image of the Temple community to that of a high-energy city that is on the move.

2.      Across all segments of our community create and nurture an enhanced sense of pride in Temple that is reflected in its appearance and in the feeling of well-being enjoyed by citizens and visitors alike.

3.             Define and implement a broadly supported, aggressive economic development initiative that will generate a trend of positive, annual, sustainable, quality growth.

4.      Analyze present day and future forces that attract investment capital and define and implement an aggressive strategic initiative to make capital available within the Temple business community.

5.             Devise a broadly supported transportation plan that supports the long-term direction of desired growth and nurture strategic partnerships with public officials to carry out the plan.

6.      Devise a broadly supported public infrastructure plan that best supports the long-term direction of desired growth.  Nurture partnerships with public officials and public utilities to carry out with the plan, and the private sector.

7.      Encourage partnerships which are fundamental to educating our youth and our citizens to expand our workforce.

Context of Discussion on Objective #1

To “enhance the image of Temple to that of a high-energy city that is on the move” requires both internal and external focus.  Internally we unanimously concluded that “we have met the enemy and they are us.”  We concluded we have become accustomed to allowing routine conversations to cast descriptions of our city in a negative, rather than positive light.  This tends to create a negative mindset within the Temple business community and perhaps the broader community.  Yet there is much more good than bad to be said about Temple.  If we can all focus on the good while working together to strengthen our weaknesses we can sow what is probably the most important seed of image change.  In this manner we can change our self-perception, our internal vision and the way we express pride in our city.  We can and should perceive ourselves as good and working hard to be great.  We can come to see ourselves as a community with a big vision rather than a small vision.  We can vigorously express pride in our many assets and strengths while acknowledging our weaknesses only as a necessary step toward correcting them.

Looking externally there are many targets that can be identified as critical to adjusting the image of Temple.  We need to clearly define each of these targets.  We need to craft and deliver a strong, commonly embraced message to these targets that we are dedicated to becoming a “can do” city that is open to responsible change and is fully focused on achieving a bright future.

1A  Accurately redefine ourselves as good with the full intention to become great.

1B  Define critical external targets.  Develop a common message carefully chosen to positively adjust Temple’s image.  Aggressively deliver the message to each target.

Our strategy to achieve these two goals will be to assign them simultaneously and to develop a “story” of Temple that will become a two-part presentation.  The presentation will be designed to be carried into (Part 1) and outside (Part 2) of the community as the catalyst for image change.  Its tone will be practical but very positive.  It will stress our strengths, our potential and define our vision.  It will identify areas of opportunity for improvement while stressing our full capability and intention to make such improvements.  It will outline our strategic initiatives and how they will be carried out.  It will seek to engage not only the business community but also service clubs, churches, students and our citizens in general.  We will look to the working members of our Temple 20/20 Alliance planning team to be the point persons to carry this message into the community.  We recognize that to be effective the story must be on target, full of energy and very clear in both its intent and its promise for action.  We recognize the need for professional help in preparing this presentation but are quick to acknowledge that the key elements of the story must come from within our community leadership and must include the key elements of our strategic planning.

Task 1A1          Create a steering committee to collect input and data and provide a general framework for the story.

Task 1A2          Prepare the story for delivery and to recommend the schedule and strategy for delivering the story via presentations inside and outside the community.  This includes defining critical internal and external targets.

Task 1B1          Temple 20/20 Alliance Planning team members deliver the message.

OBJECTIVE 1: Enhance the image of the Temple community to that of a high-energy city that is on the move.

Goal 1A  Accurately redefine ourselves as good with the full intention to become great.

Goal 1B  Define external targets.  Develop a common message carefully chosen to positively adjust Temple’s image.  Aggressively deliver the message to each target.

Task 1A1  Create a steering committee to collect input and data and provide a general framework for the story.

Task 1A2  Hire a professional firm to prepare the story for delivery and to recommend the schedule and strategy for delivering the story via presentations inside and outside the community.  This includes defining critical internal and external targets.

Task 1B1 Temple 20/20 Alliance Planning team members deliver the message.

Context of Discussion on Objective #2

Objective #2 is to create and nurture an enhanced sense of pride in Temple that is reflected in its appearance and in the feeling of well-being enjoyed by citizens and visitors alike.

Dominant in approaching this objective is the issue of the city’s physical appearance which is a significant influence on how we are perceived by visitors and, equally important, how we perceive ourselves.

We must work to instill an enhanced sense of awareness and pride in the physical appearance and beauty of our city and we must work diligently to make significant physical improvements.  Key to accomplishing this is the participation and “buy-in” of our citizens across all socioeconomic levels.  Our power to bring about change is enormous as we care for our homes and properties and care for the public facilities we use daily.  Additionally, our support is essential to proper enforcement of city codes in all areas but particularly in blighted areas and in dealing with sub-standard buildings.  Our support is critical in using city resources to assist beautification efforts.  Our participation as volunteers and activists in defining and carrying out beautification projects is a major resource.  Our participation as business leaders, business owners and developers is essential in helping to revitalize and beautify by reinvestment in projects which contribute to enhancing the city’s appearance.

In order to achieve broad citizen participation and “buy-in” to a beautification initiative we must develop a strategic plan that draws attention to the need for such action as well as providing a catalyst to begin the necessary change.  We believe that the details of such a plan must be developed with broad community input and that strategic actions defined within the plan must be carried out through both public programs and public-private partnerships.

We believe a Strategic Planning team formed out of existing community groups such as the Keep Temple Beautiful Committee, the Master Gardner Program, the Chamber of Commerce, City Staff, interested citizens and others can best accomplish the task.

The Beautification Strategic Plan developed by this team must include high visibility actions such as beautification of key city entryways and high traffic corridors.  This must include specific attention directed to 31^st St., Adams Ave., Central Ave., North 3^rd St., South 1^st St., Ave. H and exits off of I35 where deserted buildings can be significant detractors.  We believe the plan must include revitalization and beautification of the Central Business District (Uptown).  These upgrades will be a strong catalyst toward generating the heightened sense of awareness and pride that we seek to initiate.   They will set examples and provide encouragement for private reinvestment.

The strategic plan must address the marshalling of community support for strict code enforcement in blighted areas and in dealing with sub-standard buildings.  The plan must address the cleanup of existing unsightly signage and bring control to future signage with special attention to the IH 35 corridor during its renovation period.  Zoning and zoning enforcement must be given careful attention within this plan.

Finally, the plan must address the beautification and grounds maintenance of public parks, school grounds and other public facilities.  In particular we must seek to evaluate and promulgate city charter changes to allow broader city contribution to public facility beautification by way of water rate discounts and other incentives.

It is recognized that a plan that is this comprehensive cannot be implemented quickly.  However, we remain convinced that a plan that is well defined, rational and broadly supported will accomplish the objective even if it must be a multi-year plan.

OBJECTIVE 2:  Across all segments of our community create and nurture an enhanced sense of pride in Temple that is reflected in its appearance and in the feeling of well being enjoyed by its citizens and visitors alike.

Goal 2A    Prepare and implement a multi-year Beautification Strategic Plan designed to upgrade the appearance and beauty of Temple and enhance the sense of awareness and pride of our citizens

Task 2A1  Establish efficient government structure to include City officials, Keep Temple Beautiful Committee, Master Gardener Program, Chamber of Commerce, Civic groups, and interested citizens to create and implement a Beautification Strategic Plan.

Task 2A2  Prepare a written charge to the Beautification Strategic Planning Committee outlining the directions and strategies identified by the Temple 20/20 Alliance as being critical to success.

Task 2A3  Assign representation from the Temple 20/20 Alliance to be an active liaison with the Beautification Strategic Planning Committee.

Task 2A4   Assist in plan implementation.

Context of Discussion on Objective #3

Objective #3 is to define and implement a broadly supported, aggressive economic development initiative that will generate at least 3% sustainable annual quality growth.  The objective seeks to deal objectively with Temple’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as we develop the initiative.

The prime mover of an aggressive E.D. initiative must be the Temple Economic Development Corporation.  A work plan with established goals to sustain continued growth will be done on an annual basis:

• In view of our continuous growth, by the year 2020 we project 700 new single family housing starts per year distributed equally within the price ranges of:

Goal 3D    Construct 250 upper end multi-family unit starts per year

Notes:

A.     Creation and maintenance of a Temple web page that emphasizes our strengths and opportunities is a critical part of this effort.

B.     Goals 3C and 3D are targeted outcomes of our strategy to develop commercial, industrial, research and airport related opportunities as a priority

Context of Discussion on Objective #4

Objective #4 is to define and implement an aggressive strategic initiative to make investment capital available within the Temple business community. The primary force that attracts investment capital to any community is the opportunity for “profit—high and fast.”  As we probe deeper into what this means to Temple and to the goals we are developing, we conclude that the only appropriate goals are those which generally support economic development in one form or another.

Objective #3 deals with economic development in a broad sense establishing well-defined criterion for the definition of our 3% annual growth goal.  This will attract investment capital.  We, additionally, conclude that we need as a goal, a focused initiative to develop research as a long-term core industry in Temple.  We know and understand that Scott & White sees Temple as its medical technology headquarters.  This is amply demonstrated by its making continuing significant investments in research facilities in Temple.  We see the research reputation of Scott & White and its imposing size as an anchor around which to fashion a long term plan to build Temple into a vibrant research community.  This not only for medical and bio-medical research but also for other types of research and business incubations which can often spin off within a vibrant research environment.  We are energized in this vision when we take account of the important institutions within our city which can provide collaboration and mutual benefit with research initiatives.  These institutions include Temple College, Veterans Administration, Blackland Research and the growing presence of Texas A & M University among others.

In order to implement a strategic initiative to accomplish Objective #4 we must bring about constructive dialogue between TEDC, city officials, Scott & White research officials, Temple College, Central Texas Veterans’ Health Care System, Blackland Research and Texas A & M University.  This dialogue must be structured to explore potential mutual benefits through collaboration and to seek focus in developing research as a cornerstone industry in Temple.

Other ideas for attracting investment which are candidates for future action are:

·         Developing business incubators for growing new companies

·         Encouraging state facilities to locate in Temple as they exit Austin

·         Increasing land development

·         Creating an arts and education center with business incubator

·         Turning the I35 Development project to advantage and mitigate negative impact of large business dislocations such as WilsonArt and major auto dealers.  (This can be addressed during future discussions on Objective #5.)

Objective 4:  Analyze present day and future forces that attract investment capital and define and implement an aggressive strategic initiative to make it available within the Temple business community.

Goal 4A     Develop a vibrant research industry in Temple.

Task 4A1   Develop and implement a mechanism to bring dialogue opportunity to all research and research support related institutions within Temple.  The purpose of the dialogue will be aimed at developing a vibrant research industry in our city along with associated spin-off and incubator opportunities.

Context of Discussion on Objective #5

Objective #5 is to devise a broadly supported transportation plan and nurture strategic partnerships to carry out the plan.

The pivotal event when considering a comprehensive transportation plan for Temple is the pending IH35 upgrade.  This event has the potential for many significant consequences both positive and negative.

On the negative side are serious concerns regarding permanent displacement of important businesses, disruption of normal traffic flow within and through the city during construction and disruption of emergency traffic flow during construction.  All of this is aggravated by a potentially slow-paced IH35 completion schedule.

On the positive side are opportunities to move forward with long sought loop roads on the west, northwest and south quadrants.  There is opportunity to create a major urban renewal program around the IH35 changes and to include a comprehensive citywide transportation plan integrated to take maximum advantage of the IH35 upgrade and accompanying loop road changes.

Major issues such as helping businesses along IH35 deal with displacement, helping transportation dependent businesses deal with transportation corridor disruption and insuring reasonable traffic flow during construction are being given ample attention through the efforts of the IH35 Task Force and the IH35 Technical Advisory Committee. 

There are, however, many remaining areas of opportunity that deserve attention.  We must structure a citywide transportation plan to insure the free flow of goods, services and labor to and through the city during and after the IH35 upgrade.  For that transportation plan to truly serve Temple and do it cost effectively, it must be accompanied by an effective street preventative maintenance program and the negotiation of new norms for maintenance cooperation with TX Dot.

We see the IH35 project as a golden opportunity to plan and at least partially implement a 4-lane continuous loop road circling the city.  Completing the western half of such a loop on a timely basis would provide much needed traffic flow relief for both through traffic and local business and commuter traffic during the IH35 project construction period.  In the long term completion of such a continuous loop must become part of an intermodal citywide transportation system linked to a well-developed Temple airport. An upgraded airport will serve as a hub for business executive transportation needs and freight handling needs which will attract key economic development.  Inviting and encouraging the Air National Guard to use Temple Airport as their base of operations would bring to Temple a partner with resources to begin developing the airport. This development will be a significant contribution toward creating such a business hub.

Groups such as the IH35 Task Force and the IH35 Technical Advisory Committee mentioned above are already in place to deal with some of these opportunities, but the development of a truly comprehensive transportation plan is a large and complex undertaking and must be coordinated with TX Dot, City of Temple, Bell County business interests, citizen interests and potential partners.

Perhaps the overriding challenge is putting in place the mechanism to coordinate the efforts of all the various entities participating in the above activities in order to insure a broadly successful conclusion.  At the heart of this coordination, we believe, is good citywide IH35 project communication which must be expanded and nurtured along with strategic partnerships with public officials.

The IH35 project presents an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to mount a major urban renewal project to move in concert with construction planning as we refurbish the image of businesses and properties that border IH35.  This is an initiative that can be undertaken by the City of Temple using bond issues to underwrite such a project employing the planned unit development concept.

Consideration for public transportation upgrade via a fixed-route bus system does not appear to have public support at this time.  Future growth may introduce change to the present public opinion so this issue must be revisited from time to time.

High-speed rail service from Dallas to Austin and South is still being planned and Temple is still on the preferred route so we must track the progress of the initiative and work with and encourage its project sponsors.

Objective 5:  Devise a broadly supported transportation plan that best supports the long term direction of desired growth and create and nurture strategic partnerships with public officials to carry out the plan.

Goal 5A          Design and implement a safe, efficient, cost effective transportation system to allow free flow of goods, services and labor through the community.  The design must be attractive, pedestrian friendly and integrated to take maximum advantage of IH35, loop road changes and future airport upgrade.

Goal 5B          Develop and implement an airport upgrade plan aimed at creating a regional airport hub for general aviation, business executive transportation and business freight.

Goal 5C          Develop and implement a major urban renewal project to refurbish the image of businesses and properties along IH35 and do this in concert with construction planning for the IH35 upgrade.

Goal 5D          Develop and implement a long term, pro-active preventive maintenance program that insures timely, ongoing, effective street maintenance across the entire city.

Goal 5E          Renegotiate the maintenance norms outlining mutual responsibilities for street maintenance where state highways pass through Temple city boundaries.

Context of Discussion on Objective #6

Objective #6 deals with the need to devise a broadly supported infrastructure plan that best supports the long-term direction of desired growth.  There are a number of issues that emerge when discussing such a plan.  These include the following:

·     How far do we/must we go to create digital citywide communications capability?

·     What is the availability of capital to support infrastructure initiatives required by aggressive growth?  Are bonds an alternative for funding?

·     What is/will be city policy for sharing infrastructure development costs?

·     Is water supply capability adequate for west side development?

·     Is present infrastructure response time adequate for aggressive growth?

·     Do we need a community forum to plan development along the IH35 project?

·     Present citywide policies with respect to infrastructure development do not match our 3% growth target. 

With these policy and funding issues as a backdrop there remains a major significant issue which must be given definition as a framework for an appropriate infrastructure plan.  We must decide what we as a community want Temple to look like in 5, 10 or 20 years. Infrastructure will be a significant influence in shaping the city!  So, the question is quite relevant and must be addressed as the first component of a meaningful infrastructure plan.

Objective 6:

Goal 6A         Develop and document broadly embraced vision of what we want Temple to look like in 5, 10, 20 years.

Goal 6B         Using the future vision for Temple established in 6A develop a meaningful infrastructure plan that will meet that vision and support the growth targets of 3% per year defined in this plan.

Context of Discussion on Objective #7

Objective #7 addresses educational partnerships which are fundamental to educating our youth and our citizens to expand our workforce.

Education must be seen as a top priority in our community!  Temple enjoys a strong and vibrant educational system benefiting and being benefited by an ethnically diverse population.  Temple ISD, Belton ISD, Temple College, Texas A & M University System* and the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor are dedicated to providing Temple area students with the knowledge and skills needed to live successful, productive lives and to contribute to maintaining and improving the society in which they live.  The successful students graduating from these learning institutions are the skilled workers, technicians, business leaders, medical researchers, professional people and community leaders of tomorrow.

Many of the students graduating from Temple High School go on to post-secondary education.  Of 318 surveys completed from the Class of 2000, 88% of the students planned to continue their education beyond high school.  Of these 44% planned to attend a four-year university or college while an additional 44% planned to attend a community or technical college/school.  Many go into the workforce immediately out of high school.  They all share a common challenge!   Regardless of the level of education it is important that each person be prepared to become a lifetime learner in order to meet the challenges of today’s workplace.

It is essential for Temple to insure its economic future and protect its quality of life by generating adequate numbers of properly trained, properly educated workers to staff the businesses, factories, hospitals, research centers and public institutions so necessary to support a thriving local economy.  It is equally important that these people be impressed with the understanding of their social responsibilities toward creating and maintaining a civil, caring society.  This will happen only if local institutions of learning recognize the need to instill a strong knowledge and skill base in our students and prepare as many students as possible to be lifetime learners and socially responsible adults.

Fortunately our local school and college officials understand these realities very well.  They continually seek critical input into curriculum design and are quick to support dialogue and partnerships that sharpen and enhance their understanding of the ever-changing nature of educational requirements.  They are active in evaluating and fashioning partnerships to broaden cooperation between Temple ISD, Belton ISD, Temple College, Texas A & M University System * and the University of Mary Hardin- Baylor.  They seek input from businesses, industry, the professional community and the community at-large in striving to be ever more relevant in course offering and training programs.  They seek and need constant communications from all types of employers in order to respond to their needs for properly trained employees.  They seek partnerships which will enhance the economic power of our growing ethnic diversity and better prepare students at all socioeconomic levels to compete and contribute.

We believe that properly formed education/community/business partnerships, with well-defined, focused technical training programs and relevant quality education programs are essential to Temple’s future success.  We believe and understand that these can best be brought about through broad community involvement and by demonstrating quality results from our educational institutions.  The leadership to form these partnerships and to marshal public support must not be seen as the sole province of the educational community.  It must be done through much broader cooperation of business, government and community interests.  We must therefore define, create and implement such a cooperative initiative in our community. 

We must identify key people in the business community, government and the community at large and bring them together in dialogue with representatives of our educational institutions.  Our purpose must be to share ideas, define partnering opportunities and set goals which will enhance the economic power of our growing ethnic diversity and constantly improve our preparation of students at all socioeconomic levels.  We must then develop plans and find funding to achieve the goals.

*  Texas A & M University System includes:

1.       Health Science Center College of Medicine

2.       Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health

3.       Blackland Research Center

4.       Texas Agriculture Extension Service – Belton

5.       School of Nursing and Health Sciences – Temple Campus  

OBJECTIVE 7:  Encourage and enhance education partnerships which are fundamental to educating our youth and our citizens to expand our work force.

Goal 7A            Under the leadership of the Temple Chamber of Commerce create a forum to bring together key people from within our business community, government, community at large and educational institutions.  The purpose of this forum will be to share ideas, define partnering opportunities and set goals which will enhance the economic power of our growing ethnic diversity and constantly improve our preparation of students at all socioeconomic levels.

Goal 7B            Create an implementation team to develop specific plans and funding mechanisms necessary to achieve the partnering goals that are identified at the forum described in 7A above.

RECOMMENDED IMPLEMENTATION STRUCTURE