Your turn: The first 100 days: Transform Rockford’s reboot

This town rocks.

I’ve attended a lot of events, sat in on a lot of meetings and consumed more coffee than is good for me in my first three plus months as executive director of Transform Rockford.

Invariably conversations with people I’ve just met or those I’ve become reacquainted with start with a hearty congratulations followed by “How can I help?”

These are not meaningless words. People are sincere about their desire to make Rockford the best it can be. It was evident 10 years ago when Transform Rockford launched its effort to become a top 25 community by 2025 when about 1,400 people filed into the Coronado Theater to learn about the effort.

Over the next 10 years, dozens of teams and thousands of volunteers focused on the many problems the community faced.

Staff and volunteers had a simple mantra: “We are better than this.”

Your turn: Hunger campaign highlights how great the need is

Rockford has become better in the last decade and in some ways this already is a top tier community. I’ve always thought that. I embraced my role with Transform Rockford because I wanted others to recognize how good of a community this is.

There’s a wonderful symphony, one of the best children’s museums in the country, a park district that is second to none, world-class gardens, awesome sports facilities, an improving recreational path system and much more.

There’s a grass-roots visual and performing arts community that allows ample opportunity for residents to display their talent.

Chicago Rockford International Airport is one of the busiest cargo airports in the country. The airport is an economic engine that continues to get bigger and better. There’s just enough passenger service to make Rockford a good place to fly from.

Cool stuff is being made in the region every day. Collins Aerospace, Ingersoll Machine Tools and Forest City Gear are involved in the space program. Woodward, Kaney Inc. and other companies are part of a vibrant aerospace cluster. Just about anything that flies has a part made in Rockford.

Places to shop and dine are plentiful, housing is affordable and the cost of living makes this a great community to live in and raise a family.

And, of course, the people. Rockford residents are caring and show grit in hard times.

Yes, there are plenty of challenges. Property taxes, poverty and crime rates are too high and educational attainment is too low. There’s not enough housing available to help attract the skilled workers companies need to be competitive in a 21st century economy.

These challenges are being addressed. There are no easy fixes. If there were, there would be no problems at all.

Here’s how you can help.

• Remain positive about the community. Let people know how happy you are to live here and why. Don’t let the negativity of others get you down. Wear your 815 and Rockford T-shirts proudly.

• Get involved. There is great generosity and a wonderful spirit of advocacy. Let’s build on that.

• Embrace the greater good. This comes under the heading of one of the shared values the community adopted: unity. Our shared value of unity places the greater good of all parts of our region and its transformation ahead of self or organizational interests.

• Align resources. Everyone wants to make Rockford better. However, too often organizations operate in silos and are oblivious to work others are doing. Work together to become more efficient and effective.

Transform Rockford’s role is to champion the community's vision and values. These are the vision and values that the people of Rockford adopted. Rockford can’t transform without you.

Transform Rockford will continue to raise awareness of the region’s priorities, help align resources and foster accountability toward impactful community transformation.

It’s a lot of work, but it’s well worth the effort.

HUNGER CAMPAIGN REACHES GOAL: The Mayor’s Hunger Campaign, which supports the nine pantries that make up the Greater Rockford Pantry Coalition, exceeded its goal of raising $45,000. Once the final tally is complete, I’ll share those numbers.

The goal was reached because of a generous match challenge of $15,000 by an anonymous benefactor.

The campaign is over, but the need in the community continues. The Hunger Campaign Committee, of which I am a member,  already is planning to make next year’s effort better. Stay tuned.

Wally Haas is executive director of Transform Rockford. His email address is whaas@transformrockford.org.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Your turn: The first 100 days: Transform Rockford’s reboot