A short survey has been launched to capture what people love and value about the 18-county region. Community leaders in northwest Missouri are asking why people choose to live in the area and what they feel would make life even better in this primarily rural place. The survey is designed to listen to people who grew up here, have strong ties here, moved away, and/or have chosen to live here. The goal is to gather input representative of all perspectives in the region to help in prioritizing and coordinating efforts that can further strengthen and enhance our towns as great places to live, learn, work, play, and raise children.
All residents, and especially those who have earned a high school diploma, skilled training certificate, or higher education diploma within the region are encouraged to participate. The survey is only a few minutes in length and can be easily accessed by visiting www.maximizenwmo.org or through links posted on the Maximize NWMO Facebook page. The direct link is: http://muext.us/NWMOsurvey.
“Maximize NWMO provides a path for how to align and expand the many things that are going right in communities and how to be more effective at resiliency, seeing and considering the big picture, and stretching limited resources. This 5-year comparison survey with what we learned in 2020 will help leaders make data-informed decisions about what happens next in this place,” said Christel Gollnick, Maximize NWMO director. “We’ve already had state, city, and community leaders call to ask for the results. We’d love to hear from as many people as possible so we can share statistically valid information with everyone.”
Maximize NWMO serves the region in a non-partisan role providing administrative, communications, data access, and coaching support on leadership, systems-thinking, resilient collaborACTION, and community wealth building for individuals, communities and the region. The initiative’s Guiding Coalition of partners from many sectors supports leaders and teams who want to dream big, decide wisely, and maximize our region’s potential by growing together.
Maximize NWMO is the regional vitality initiative of The Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri. It is made possible through partnerships with Communities of Excellence 2026, the United States Department of Agriculture – Rural Development (USDA-RD), University of Missouri Extension, Patterson Family Foundation, Evergy, and many private cash and in-kind donors to the Maximize NWMO Fund.
The counties served include Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Caldwell, Clinton, Davies, DeKalb, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Holt, Linn, Livingston, Mercer, Nodaway, Putnam, Sullivan, and Worth.
