Submitted by COLUMBIA BASIN TRUST
Columbia Basin Trust has updated its Columbia Basin Management Plan for 2016 to 2020, which outlines how it will support Basin residents and communities over the next five years.
“All of our activities are driven by responding to the priorities and needs of Basin residents,” said Greg Deck, Columbia Basin Trust Chair, Board of Directors. “Through extensive discussions, we have heard how we can best support the region and the issues we should focus on, and are now moving ahead with these ideas.”
The Trust will continue to use three methods of supporting communities. 1) It will invest in opportunities that generate financial returns to support its activities. 2) It will offer responsive granting programs that empower residents and communities to take action on issues that are important to them. 3) It will undertake proactive, longer-term initiatives that address specific Basin-wide priorities.
It will also implement a new method, in which it will invest in opportunities where financial return is secondary to other positive community impacts.
“Residents told us that we often make the best use of our resources when we support initiatives that are common across a larger region, such as our affordable housing or broadband initiatives,” said Neil Muth, Columbia Basin Trust President and Chief Executive Officer. “Economic development, for instance, was a top priority for most of the region, so we’ll be allocating significant resources to finding ways to make an impact in this area.”
The Trust has identified 13 strategic priorities, which it will focus its efforts on over the next five years. These are: affordable housing; agriculture; arts, culture and heritage; broadband; community priorities; early childhood and childhood development; economic development; environment; First Nations relationships; land acquisition; non-profit support; recreation and physical activity; and renewable and alternative energy.
Through the Our Trust, Our Future engagement process, about 3,000 residents connected with the Trust to offer ideas on how it can support them and their communities. This input helped the Trust renew its priorities and how it delivers programs and services to the Basin.
These priorities and the four main methods have been formalized in the Columbia Basin Management Plan Strategic Priorities 2016-2020, a document that guides how the Trust works to support communities. Read it online at cbt.org/cbmp.
The public is also invited to learn more at open houses to be held in Cranbrook (Tuesday, Oct. 20), Golden (Wednesday, Oct. 28) and Nakusp (Thursday, Oct. 29). Castlegar (Friday, Oct. 30). Or residents can join a webinar. Find details at cbt.org/openhouse.
Columbia Basin Trust supports efforts to deliver social, economic and environmental benefits to the residents of the Columbia Basin. To learn more about the Trust’s programs and initiatives, visit cbt.org or call 1.800.505.8998
