Last year the Columbia Basin Trust embarked on their largest community engagement project to date. Through that process, the organization has determined where it wants to go over the next five years.
Moving forward, the Trust will focus on 13 strategic priorities, most of which were already on the Trust’s radar in one way or another. However there are a few new areas of focus includeing agriculture, renewable and alternative energy, and early childhood and childhood development.
They will continue to put resources toward broadband, arts and culture, affordable housing, and non-profit support, among many others.
The local CBT office hosted an open house last week to unveil and discuss the new five-year plan, and to let residents know what will, and what won’t be changing right here in Golden.
CBT’s granting system, for example, is highly utilized by various organizations in Golden. The funds dedicated to that will remain constant.
But there are also new programs available to local groups, including a Non-profit Advisors Program. The program pairs non-profits with an expert to help them in areas such as human resources, financial management, governance, and more.
All in all, however, the Trusts priorities have remained relatively constant, if not a little more focused.
“It would be disappointing for the organization if there were huge surprises (from the engagement),” said Neal Muth, CBT president. “We pride ourselves in having continuous and ongoing engagement with the people of the Basin, and this helps us understand what is important to them and what the issues are that they are dealing with.”
The Trust invests in power projects, which they will continue to do, and it is the income earned on those investments that gets delivered back into Basin communities through various projects and initiatives.
Moving forward, however, the Trust will look into investing in ways that may not earn a high return, but will yield other benefits, such as job creation.
The complete five-year plan is available at cbt.org.
