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The Advocates: Housing Attainability Vision Lab

Housing attainability is a critical issue for Board Chairman Marc Marchant and with the crisis growing, he was ready to find solutions and see action. As a result, Marc and Chamber CEO Bryan Derreberry decided to engage the community in a Housing Attainability Vision Lab with the help of Futurist Rebecca Ryan.

This was not the first time the Chamber had used the Vision lab format to incite change, it was first utilized in 2014 to address our infrastructure issues. A group of key stakeholders recognized the importance of the motor fuel user fee, a “gas tax,” and its ability to fund infrastructure projects. Even though many thought the gas tax had no chance of passing, it did and the Vision Lab was the catalyst.

A Vision Lab is a combination of tools used by Silicon Valley Startups to work in short time bursts and Military Stratagems that create new ways of seeing familiar problems. On June 24, a group of 25 of our region’s business leaders, nonprofit leaders and government officials came together to build a long-term solution to combat the housing crisis.

After six hours of thinking, coordinating and debating, the group came to a consensus on a series of action steps. The first step is to form a Regional Housing Coalition made up of employers, elected officials, nonprofits and other community stakeholders. During the next month, Vision Lab participants will identify who to invite to join the coalition, a region-wide communications plan and an attainable housing toolkit.

In 30 days, the group will meet again to check in and ensure that we continue the path forward for housing attainability solutions.  If you are interested in joining the coalition, please let us know.  All are welcome!


Bailey Vincett, Government Relations Coordinator
Posted on
July 6th 2021
Written by
Madison Beard
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