Strategic Planning: Farming Focus
Now several months into a process to define our 2-3 year strategic plan, the focus is beginning to take shape. The planning team has traveled all over the northeast, visiting other community and educational farms and meeting with other staff, boards of directors and volunteers to decide what may work on Pitney Meadows Community Farm. In addition, we used research from our own surveys, our public forum in March of 2017, and research and surveys from a group of Skidmore students through the Saratoga Skidmore Consulting Partnership.
While we are still honing our goals and strategic plans, here are some preliminary results from our Strategic Planning Process:
The Vision
"Imagine a city that has a farm within the city limits. A place where the community can learn, grow and share in the excitement of food."
Penned at the beginning of the project by founding board member Michael Kilpatrick, those words still resonate with us as a key part of our vision. Sustaining an active growing farm that invests and promotes farming in the local food economy, developing farm and food education, and providing a community gathering space are the planned ways to realize this vision.
We also aim to support the development of new farm enterprises and encourage the growth of a strong local food system in Saratoga Springs, NY.
Strategic Directions
While our strategic planning process may see further updates and revisions, we have identified four strategic directions for the organization for the next 18-36 months.
1. ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS & MESSAGE CLARITY
2. DEVELOP A FARMING PRESENCE
3. ENGAGING & BUILDING THE COMMUNITY
4. FUND DEVELOPMENT & PLANNED GROWTH
We would like to thank the hundreds of community members and volunteers who have participated in our various and events and given us ideas, concerns, solutions, and amazing support while we work to realize the vision of this fantastic community project.
To encourage further participation in our strategic planning process and to answer questions, we will be hosting a Facebook Live chat in April. Stay tuned for details!