Why This Matters
The West Central Mountains (WCM) region—covering Valley County, New Meadows, and Meadows Valley—is a place of incredible natural beauty, strong communities, and a high quality of life. However, rapid growth, rising housing costs, infrastructure challenges, and increasing environmental risks threaten the region’s long-term resilience. Resilience isn’t just about recovering from challenges—it’s about ensuring our communities can adapt and thrive in the face of change. That means strengthening our economy, preparing for natural hazards like wildfires and floods, and ensuring essential services like housing, utilities, and healthcare are accessible to all.
What We’ve Accomplished So Far:
Phase I: Pre-Assessment
In Phase I, we conducted a regional resilience pre-assessment, gathering insights from across the community. This included:
- ~40 interviews with community members
- A comprehensive review of existing reports to understand key regional challenges
- 120+ participants in a two-hour pre-assessment workshop at the West Central Mountains Economic Summit
This process helped us identify four key resilience areas that guide our next steps.
Phase II: Taking a Deeper Dive
We are now launching Phase II, where we will focus on four critical areas to ensure a resilient future for the West Central Mountains region:
How We’ll Work Together
To ensure community-driven, collaborative solutions, we engaged residents and partners through several approaches:
- Community Surveys (March – April 2025) – Community members shared their priorities, challenges, and what matters most to them
- Focus Group Discussions (April – June 2025) – We met with the Steering Committee to explore the region’s strengths, challenges, opportunities, and areas of divergence
- Data Synthesis (July 2025) – We analyzed feedback from across the region to identify shared priorities, emerging themes, and next steps for action
- The results of data analysis are attached as PDF
Phase III: Balancing Growth and Stewardship to Advance a Prosperous Future
We are now entering Phase III, where community insights are being transformed into concrete actions. Through a series of roundtable discussions and workshops, we are working collaboratively to shape regional strategies for a resilient and prosperous future.
Strengthening the Education-to-Employment PipelineÂ
How You Can Get Involved
We need your voice to make sure this plan reflects the needs and priorities of our communities! Here’s how you can contribute:
- Take our surveys (will be emailed) – Share your thoughts and help guide the process. Your input will directly shape the region’s resilience plan!
- Participate in a community forum – Discuss challenges and solutions with your community.
- Attend the final community-wide workshop – Be part of shaping a resilience action plan.
Together, We Can Build a Stronger, More Resilient Community
Your participation is vital to shaping a future where our communities are not only prepared for challenges — but positioned to thrive.
Let’s build this future together!