Vibrant Stillwater announces a new partnership with the Center of the Future of Work in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University. This partnership will enable the citizen-led coalition to engage more actively across the community through the sharing of information, raising civic awareness and supporting placemaking efforts.
Made up of citizens and leaders, Vibrant Stillwater is working to create a citizen-inspired vision, to promote resident involvement in shaping the community and making intentional decisions about property development. Its long-term goal is to become a community that attracts and keeps talent, which in turn attracts and retains business and industry that drives economic growth. Working collaboratively with the Vibrant Stillwater Steering Committee and work groups, the Center for the Future of Work will provide project coordination, research services and marketing support to the organization.
“We are excited to work with faculty and students at OSU in our efforts to raise the quality of life and economic prosperity of Stillwater,” said Alan Lovelace, a member of the Vibrant Stillwater steering committee. “The access to expertise and resources will allow Vibrant Stillwater to move forward on key initiatives such as our community status dashboard, community conversation speaker series and community grant program.”
The Center for the Future of Work assists in advancing local and regional economies and community well-being through organizational development, innovative workforce development and technology transformation. The center draws upon the knowledge and skills of business faculty and students from disciplines such as economics, marketing, management, data analytics and entrepreneurship.
“This partnership fits well with our purpose and is a wonderful opportunity for our students to learn more about civic engagement in the process,” said Dr. Rebecca Eastham, Director of the Center for the Future of Work. “It makes it even more meaningful to be working right here in our own community where the success of both the university and the community are so inter-related.”
Priorities for the partnership are to launch the “Small Project-Vibrant Impact” grant program, create a community dashboard with key vibrancy metrics and enhance communication on the efforts of Vibrant Stillwater.
Vibrant Stillwater kicked off in 2021 and led the Mason Dixon Quality of Life Survey for Stillwater in September. Quint Studer shared the results and key takeaways for Stillwater at a Community Forum in October followed up in March by Chuck Moran sharing about how to build a strong town. To learn more about these past activities, visit www.vibrantstillwater.com and discover ways to get involved and sign up for regular updates.