Shane Pippin
Staff Writer
Downtown Middlesboro will host internationally recognized revitalization expert Storm Cunningham on April 19 and 20.
Cunningham is author of the Restoration Economy and ReWealth, and CEO of ReCitizen, L3C.
His website — ReCitizen.org — is transforming the way people revitalize communities by utilizing “crowd” technologies.
Cunningham is thought of as a community revitalization expert.
On April 19 at 6 p.m, Cunningham will be speaking at Lincoln Memorial University in Room 100 of the Math and Science Building. The event is free to the public.
“I hope that many from the area will come out and take advantage of this incredible opportunity to hear Cunningham speak,” said Isaac Kremer, Executive Director of Discover Downtown Middlesboro.
Cunningham will kick off a strategic plan for downtown Middlesboro with a one-hour talk. During his talk and the question and answer session to follow, he will share the potential of crowdmapping (to perceive opportunities), crowdsourcing (to design projects), and crowdfunding (to launch projects) to put tools into the hands of citizens to revitalize their own communities.
On Saturday, the strategic planning will begin with a community leaders workshop facilitated by Cunningham.
In the following months, faculty and students from the LMU School of Business will analyze feedback and conduct additional research to prepare the formal strategic plan.
“The plan and findings is expected to be completed somewhere around September,” said Kremer.
Middlesboro will be one of just a few pilots nationally to use the new technology Cunningham has developed at ReCitizen.org. Subsequent to the planning exercise, Cunningham has also agreed to use Middlesboro as an example of successful community-led revitalization efforts nationally.
In addition to using ReCitizen.org in preparation of the strategic plan, upon completion of the plan ReCitizen.org will help with implementation of projects people identified as priorities for them.
This event is made possible through the generous financial support of the Appalachian Regional Commission and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Other partners include Appalachian Regional Healthcare – Middlesboro, Bell County, Bell County Chamber of Commerce, Bell County Historical Society, city of Middlesboro, Kentucky Heritage Council, Kentucky League of Cities, Kentucky Main Street Program, Kentucky Small Business Development Center, LMU, Preservation Kentucky and TourSEKY.
For more information, please contact Kremer by phone at (606) 248-6155 or by email at downtownmiddlesboro@gmail.com. TDDM website is www.downtownmiddlesboro.org.
Reach Shane Pippin at 606-248-1010 ext 204, mpippin@civitasmedia.com
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