Update on Programs

 

Building the Good Growth State? - Focus Groups

To better develop its newest program of work on growth annd infrastructure, this fall IEI is conducting a series of Focus Groups across the state. Leaders from each community will engage in an open-ended discussion around three areas: the challenges their community is facing in terms of maintaining a sound built environment in the face of external changes; their vision for the future of their community and region; and their evaluation of the various assets available to their community as it wrestles with change.

Through the Focus Group process, IEI hopes to hear about the unique challenges facing the built environments of local communities and learn about the assets and resources available to communities as they deal with the impact of change.

IEI will incorporate the unique infrastructure visions of local communities across North Carolina into the broader statewide visioning process to take place in IEI’s Working Groups. Together, this will set the stage for the 2009 Emerging Issues Forum, scheduled for February 9-10, 2009 at the Raleigh Convention Center.

Financing the Future - Business Committee

As part of it's continuing program of work on tax and finance, IEI is convening its fourth and final meeting of the Business Committee on Financing the Future (BCFTF).

IEI has engaged the issue of tax modernization for over three years, always with the goal of offering a model agenda for action in the 2009 session.  This agenda has taken shape through debate in expert working groups, at the 2006 Emerging Issues Forum, and in communities around the state. 

This December, the BCFTF will finalize its recommendations for modernizing North Carolina's systems of tax and finance.   These views will be shared with the Governor-elect, legislative leadership and staff, new members of the general assembly and other stakeholder groups.