ProgressLex

Vote for Your Favorite NWL ’13 Micro-Grant Proposal

Nathan Dickerson — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:50:36 +0000

ProgressLex is working to make Lexington a place that talented and creative people are happy to call home. It’s how we’re going to create a truly great American city. Lucky for us and Lexington, there are so many talented and creative citizens here. They are our city’s change agents, and we want to empower them through platforms like our IdeaPost blog and the Now What, Lexington? (NWL) unconference.

We’re also helping to kickstart their efforts with two $500 NWL ’13 Micro-Grants, which support ideas springing from our NWL ’13 unconference. One winner will be selected by the Board, and the other will be selected by votes from you.

Voting is now open to the public, and you may review proposals and cast your vote by clicking here.

Voting will be open between May 16, 2013 and June 13, 2013.

To see the full timeline and see the criteria the Board will use to select a grant, click here.

LGBT Volleyball League Featured in the Herald-Leader

Nathan Dickerson — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:53:17 +0000

We just wanted to give a quick kudos to Lexington’s change agent, Ben de Jesus, for organizing Team Lex Volleyball and being featured in the Herald-Leader. For those of you who follow our blog, you may remember his cool story and reason for starting this league:

At ProgressLex, we believe that in order to make Lexington a place that talented and creative are happy to call home, our city needs to be welcoming to diversity of all kinds. A quick snippet from the Herald-Leader article:

“I thought this would be a good way to get involved in the gay community,” [John] Rhyne said. “It’s much more welcoming. We want all kinds of people to learn to play and learn their skills. We’re trying to be a club like other clubs.”

Thanks Ben for helping contribute to a more open vision of the city, and we encourage our readers to check out the full Herald-Leader story by clicking here.

The Counterproductive Fight over the Canopy Tour

Nathan Dickerson — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:20:30 +0000

The following is a guest post by Gregory Pettit, a native Lexingtonian who recently moved back from New York.

I grew up in Lexington, part of a family with long and deep roots in the community. I was sent away to school as a young teen and never lived here full time again until my return last year after nearly four decades, three of them spent conducting public relations for companies, governments and NGOs in the US and abroad. It has been a fascinating time for me, comparing the city I left in 1974 with the Lexington I call home today. When I left, preservation referred more to the contents of the freezer than the landscape and buildings that are the touchstones of our cultural heritage.

Lexington has come a long way though. Now double the size of my childhood hometown, it has a vibrant and largely restored downtown, statutes that limit development of our storied landscape and a level of energy and innovation that is infectious.

But I am incredulous at the circular firing squad that the preservationists in Lexington are engaged in over the Boone Creek canopy tour. One thing I learned in decades of public relations for Fortune 100 giants and startups alike was to pick your fights wisely. And this fight looks counterproductive from every angle.

The public fight over Boone Creek holds the prospect of the city and the Fayette Alliance going to the ramparts and putting their credibility on the line to financially ruin a Sierra Club member for operating an increasingly popular but small scale, environmentally benign canopy tour designed for nature lovers. Is this really a crucial fight? And for whom? What about the zoning rules so fiercely defended that would allow Mr. Carey to abandon his plans and log the land for timber? Who wins then?

The participants in this controversy need to take a few steps back and look at the bigger picture. The gentleman from Darby Dan rightly pointed out in his Op-ed in the Herald Leader that horse farms are businesses and not parks. And that even so, perhaps 40,000 people take farm tours every year. That’s great, but it is also only a tiny fraction of the visitors Lexington gets in an average year. What if only 5% of visitors to NYC were allowed into Times Square? His argument only underscores the need for other venues like the eco-tourism model that Boone Creek represents so that more tourists and residents alike can enjoy the landscape that makes us famous.

Our World Heritage landscape has attracted the rich and powerful for nearly two centuries, but they tend to come and go (how many remember Nelson Bunker Hunt or Elizabeth Arden?). We can continue to attract them and many more. But only if those who truly care about our heritage preserve their credibility with the larger community and avoid unseemly, internecine squabbles over fine print and focus instead on common sense regulation that protects the actual landscape more than the people who own it and leaves room for all owners to earn a responsible living. The Blue Grass is a treasure, but any horse farm operator will tell you that those rolling hills are a business, and the return on that land helps keep it the way it is.

You can drive a bus through the room for compromise on this issue. I hope those involved can find the entrance.

UK Dining Services Serves All Kentuckians

Nathan Dickerson — Mon, 06 May 2013 17:58:43 +0000

As an important step toward realizing its vision of being among the top 20 public research universities in the country, the University of Kentucky recently decided to build thousands of new dormitory rooms, and require many more students to live on campus. As a community member, I have heard that the reasoning is that on-campus students are more likely to graduate, and that increasing graduation rates is a crucial aspect of improving the University's status. \u200B

\u200B

UK chose to outsource construction of the dorms\u2014without dining facilities. Although no final decision has been announced, recently UK has signaled that it is considering outsourcing dining services as well, apparently because corporate food service giants have the capital to build several dining halls and then recoup construction costs as part of a long-term contract. Estimates I have heard publicly range from $5 million to $50 million for dining facility construction. The respected UK Dining Services, which now feeds dorm students and central campus (not the medical complex, and not athletics) is an in-house, UK-owned entity. \u200BIt cannot raise the capital to build the new dining facilities unless the University chooses, and the University, so far, chooses other capital priorities other than dining halls. UK Dining Services boasts an excellent record on food quality, strong commitment to buying food from Kentucky growers and processors, and importance as an employer of both full-time and part-time workers. Many people, particularly the well-organized UK United Students Against Sweatshops, have been working to encourage UK to expand UK Dining Services to meet the new dining facilities need.

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The following is a guest, crosspost by Rona Roberts, the host of Savoring Kentucky, the co-host of the Cornbread Suppers, the convenor of the Local Food Percolator, and the author of Sweet, Sweet Sorghum: Kentucky’s Golden Wonder.

UK chose to outsource construction of the dorms—without dining facilities. Although no final decision has been announced, recently UK has signaled that it is considering outsourcing dining services as well, apparently because corporate food service giants have the capital to build several dining halls and then recoup construction costs as part of a long-term contract. Estimates I have heard publicly range from $5 million to $50 million for dining facility construction. The respected UK Dining Services, which now feeds dorm students and central campus (not the medical complex, and not athletics) is an in-house, UK-owned entity. It cannot raise the capital to build the new dining facilities unless the University chooses, and the University, so far, chooses other capital priorities other than dining halls. UK Dining Services boasts an excellent record on food quality, strong commitment to buying food from Kentucky growers and processors, and importance as an employer of both full-time and part-time workers. Many people, particularly the well-organized UK United Students Against Sweatshops, have been working to encourage UK to expand UK Dining Services to meet the new dining facilities need.

I spoke on this issues last night at an on-campus forum on \nOutsourcing UK Dining Services. The Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment hosted the forum. My statement follows.

~~~~~\u200B

Along with many others, I have called for the University to expand UK Dining Services to serve the new dorms and the replacement dining facilities envisioned in the dining plan. University responses have included this language: \"we owe it to our students\n to explore every avenue for making our services as efficient and effective as possible.\" That consideration of efficiency and effectiveness has pointed toward soliciting private capital investment in new dining facilities. \u200B

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I spoke on this issues last night at an on-campus forum on Outsourcing UK Dining Services. The Tracy Farmer Institute for Sustainability and the Environment hosted the forum. My statement follows.

~~~~~

Along with many others, I have called for the University to expand UK Dining Services to serve the new dorms and the replacement dining facilities envisioned in the dining plan. University responses have included this language: “we owe it to our students to explore every avenue for making our services as efficient and effective as possible.” That consideration of efficiency and effectiveness has pointed toward soliciting private capital investment in new dining facilities.

University of Kentucky Dining Services excels in serving students and boosting local food economies in the Commonwealth. It is in jeopardy.\u200B

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University of Kentucky Dining Services excels in serving students and boosting local food economies in the Commonwealth. It is in jeopardy.\u200B

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University of Kentucky Dining Services excels in serving students and boosting local food economies in the Commonwealth. It is in jeopardy.

I ask that University decision-makers develop and apply criteria based on deeper, permanent efficiencies that fit well with the University's mission: \"The University of Kentucky is a public, land grant university dedicated\n to improving people's lives through excellence in education, research \nand creative work, service, and health care. As Kentucky's flagship \ninstitution, the University plays a critical leadership role by \npromoting diversity, inclusion, economic development, and human \nwell-being.\"

Using that statement as a frame, and giving particular attention to its emphasis on education, creative work, service, health care, and economic development, I suggest four specific opportunities for achieving efficiencies of lasting benefit and effectiveness to the Commonwealth the University serves.

First, when UK students find it easy to eat well-prepared, delicious, nutrient-rich food, the state as a whole benefits from their improved health. Many UK graduates become our neighbors in Kentucky cities, towns and counties. In addition to the reduction in costly chronic diseases for which we may not have to fund treatment, these student's good health, once they graduate and start families, will have a positive impact on Kentucky going forward. This yields the long-term efficiency of good public health.

Second, when \u200BUK does business with Kentucky growers and processors, that money makes positive ripples in Kentucky's communities. When community income improves, public schools tend to improve. When schools improve, graduates tend to come to college better equipped to thrive and graduate. This effective education dividend, so important to the University's top 20 vision, is built partly on the long-term efficiency of investment in strong local economies.

Third, when UK Dining Services collaborates with academic departments to introduce students to careers in food and agriculture, students build skills to succeed in food-based jobs. When those students graduate, make jobs and take jobs in any aspect of Kentucky's growing food economy, our state efficiently profits from their work and their tax dollars. All of us stand to benefit from \u200Bthe long-term effectiveness of good career preparation.

These three deep sources of efficiency and effectiveness could conceivably be delivered by an entity that is not part of the University, and not part of Kentucky. But one final important deep efficiency cannot.\u200B Any outsourcing contract may specify food quality, set sustainability deliverables, mandate a percentage from local sources, require employee protections, and insist on collaboration with academic units. What an external food service contractor must do, however, is make money for its shareholders.

\u200BRight now we Kentuckians are the shareholders in UK Dining Services. In spite of faltering legislative support for the University, we are still the beneficiaries of UK Dining Services' good work. Outsourcing dining services to Aramark or Sodexho ensures that a significant portion of the money Kentucky students are required to spend on dormitory food will leave the state and enrich others. It will, in effect, establish a new extractive industry in the Bluegrass.

And so, fourth, the University of Kentucky is a capable powerhouse, and in addition, there's Big Blue Nation. UK itself has the commitment, brainpower, creativity and many mechanisms to live up to the economic development portion of its mission statement by inventing a way forward that meets new, deep efficiency and effectiveness criteria.

Among those criteria, the new dining service solution should improve student health, invest in Kentucky's local food economies, equip Kentucky students for excellent work in our Commonwealth's fledgling food system, and keep Kentucky money in Kentucky where it can grow and benefit all of us. Done properly, this new invention can offer new ways for Big Blue Nation to connect to this beloved university. A positive invention will expand a sense of ownership and connection to the University even in years that do not include the pleasure of hanging a banner in the Rupp Arena rafters.

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I ask that University decision-makers develop and apply criteria based on deeper, permanent efficiencies that fit well with the University’s mission: “The University of Kentucky is a public, land grant university dedicated to improving people’s lives through excellence in education, research and creative work, service, and health care. As Kentucky’s flagship institution, the University plays a critical leadership role by promoting diversity, inclusion, economic development, and human well-being.”

First, when UK students find it easy to eat well-prepared, delicious, nutrient-rich food, the state as a whole benefits from their improved health. Many UK graduates become our neighbors in Kentucky cities, towns and counties. In addition to the reduction in costly chronic diseases for which we may not have to fund treatment, these student’s good health, once they graduate and start families, will have a positive impact on Kentucky going forward. This yields the long-term efficiency of good public health.

Second, when UK does business with Kentucky growers and processors, that money makes positive ripples in Kentucky’s communities. When community income improves, public schools tend to improve. When schools improve, graduates tend to come to college better equipped to thrive and graduate. This effective education dividend, so important to the University’s top 20 vision, is built partly on the long-term efficiency of investment in strong local economies.

Third, when UK Dining Services collaborates with academic departments to introduce students to careers in food and agriculture, students build skills to succeed in food-based jobs. When those students graduate, make jobs and take jobs in any aspect of Kentucky’s growing food economy, our state efficiently profits from their work and their tax dollars. All of us stand to benefit from the long-term effectiveness of good career preparation.

These three deep sources of efficiency and effectiveness could conceivably be delivered by an entity that is not part of the University, and not part of Kentucky. But one final important deep efficiency cannot. Any outsourcing contract may specify food quality, set sustainability deliverables, mandate a percentage from local sources, require employee protections, and insist on collaboration with academic units. What an external food service contractormust do, however, is make money for its shareholders.

Right now we Kentuckians are the shareholders in UK Dining Services. In spite of faltering legislative support for the University, we are still the beneficiaries of UK Dining Services’ good work. Outsourcing dining services to Aramark or Sodexho ensures that a significant portion of the money Kentucky students are required to spend on dormitory food will leave the state and enrich others. It will, in effect, establish a new extractive industry in the Bluegrass.

And so, fourth, the University of Kentucky is a capable powerhouse, and in addition, there’s Big Blue Nation. UK itself has the commitment, brainpower, creativity and many mechanisms to live up to the economic development portion of its mission statement by inventing a way forward that meets new, deep efficiency and effectiveness criteria.

Among those criteria, the new dining service solution should improve student health, invest in Kentucky’s local food economies, equip Kentucky students for excellent work in our Commonwealth’s fledgling food system, and keep Kentucky money in Kentucky where it can grow and benefit all of us. Done properly, this new invention can offer new ways for Big Blue Nation to connect to this beloved university. A positive invention will expand a sense of ownership and connection to the University even in years that do not include the pleasure of hanging a banner in the Rupp Arena rafters.

Town Branch Commons Public Presentation with SCAPE

Nathan Dickerson — Fri, 03 May 2013 18:41:26 +0000

Did you miss the Town Branch Commons public presentation with SCAPE this week? Don’t worry, we’ve got the full video of Kate Orff below:

Kate provided a comprehensive presentation exploring 4 discrete districts detailed in the proposal, which include the Reveal, Clean, Carve and Connect segments of the linear park.

For reference, you can check out the project boards and narrative here.

Let us know in the comments what you think about these districts and the project’s use of our region’s natural formations as design influences.

“When I grow up…”

Nathan Dickerson — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:01:47 +0000

The following is a guest post by Theo Edmonds and Marnie Holoubek, the co-curators of Lexington’s “When I Grow Up…” project.

“When you grow up… what will YOU do?” It’s a question that kids get asked a lot. And… they think about it with purpose and with a great sense of hope and infinite possibility.

That question is the guiding idea behind a new project that we started to creatively capture ideas from all Lexingtonians about their vision for making Lexington the best it can be.

The “When I Grow Up…” project demonstrates the ability to bring artwork to the workplace through unconventional practices, and hopefully bring about unconventional results. It is a real departure in how, and to what end, temporary public art projects are designed and it is being enthusiastically received by the downtown business community.

Here’s how it works? We are working with students from The Lexington School to create very cool artwork made entirely out of Post It notes at three downtown lobby locations. Then we invite the entire Lexington community to write down their own ideas for improving Lexington right on the Post It note art!

Anyone can participate. Just come downtown the week of April 28 through May 5 – to the Big Blue Building, the Government Center, or 333 W Vine St - and write down your ideas for improving Lexington. You’ll see the Post It note artwork from the street level right inside the lobby doors of each location.

Or, if you can’t make it downtown, you can still participate online! Just go to the Facebook page of our main sponsor, and add your ideas for improving Lexington at: www.facebook.com/LexingtonsRealEstateCompany

The project is supported by Mayor Jim Gray and LFUCG, Lexington’s Real Estate Company, The Coleman Group, The Webb Companies, Marnie and Phil Holoubek and The Lexington School and Residency Unlimited/IDEAS 40203.

Edmonds is a Kentucky born artist and Creative Development Director for Brooklyn-based Residency Unlimited (RU). Currently, he is leading development of RU’s Louisville-based project called I.D.E.A.S. 40203. The goal of the project is to build a new artist-led/artist-developed working paradigm for contemporary artists to become innovation consultants for product development and revenue diversification in industries ranging from healthcare and manufacturing to urban food production and public policy.

Holoubek also is a local artist, advocate for the arts, and community activist best known for her work in making the Legacy Trail a reality.

Team Lex Volleyball Kicks Off Tonight!

Nathan Dickerson — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:22:39 +0000

Ben de Jesus, one of Lexington’s change agents, provides a guest blog post about his work with Team Lex Volleyball, an effort to foster a supportive LGBT-friendly sporting environment in Lexington.

I came out as an openly gay man in college, and that was a very challenging time for me. One of the avenues I found to build confidence and meet a supportive community was with the LGBT volleyball league, Steel City, which was located in my home town of Pittsburgh. They have roughly 130 players in their league, and they were a great group of fun loving and supportive individuals who were happy to teach beginners like me how to play. It was a very healthy environment that helped me and others overcome some of the memories of bullying and the unwelcoming environment of team sports.

The experience with Steel City made a meaningful difference in the trajectory of my life, and with Team Lex Volleyball, I hope to build a more robust and supportive LGBT sporting environment in Lexington. I think it would help so many LGBT individuals here build confidence and community. I believe the project will also help build better relationships with current and future allies through sports.

Specifically, some of our goals include:

Promoting healthy lifestyles that empower people through sports and exercise
Supporting equality and fairness in team sports and social activity
Overcoming negative assumptions, feelings, and actions like bullying and discrimination towards LGBT people
Giving young people role models for out and proud productive members of society that are also athletes

If you’re interested in participating, Team Lex Volleyball is a 7-week long, indoor hardcourt volleyball league being held at the new Bluegrass Volleyball Center. We offer a fun and friendly atmosphere for recreational and competitive volleyball among Lexington’s LGBT community and their straight allies, and is open to anyone interested in playing the sport of volleyball, from the experienced athlete, to the recreational picnic player. Evenly skilled teams are formed for players by Team Lex, so there’s no need to worry about bringing a pre-formed team; just sign up as an individual and get ready to learn the game and have some fun!

Our first night of volleyball is tonight (April 25^th)! This first session is free and open to those who register, and it will last from 6:30PM – 9:30PM. Please sign up and register for the league, and I hope to see you tonight!

The Bluegrass Volleyball Center is located at 709 Miles Point Way off of Old Frankfort Pike outside of New Circle in Lexington, KY. Individual adult registration is $45 and student (age 18+) registration is $35.

If you have any other questions, please visit http://www.teamlexvb.com or email me at teamlexvb@gmail.com!

NWL ’13 Micro-Grants Applications Are Open!

Nathan Dickerson — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:27:02 +0000

First, a heartfelt thanks to the change agents who participated in NWL ’13! As a young person in Lexington, I was incredibly excited to see so many people from across the city working to improve our community.

A few of Lexington’s change agents discuss topics ranging from food corridors to “slow money.”

The sessions at NWL included a great discussion on Lexington’s history and what its cultural ascendance during the period of 1792-1852 can inform us about our choices today, how to connect wealth with community investments through the “slow money” movement, supporting food innovation districts, organizing lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender sports leagues, creating a Crave food and music community event, and many more innovative projects which we will continue to highlight on our blog in the coming weeks. We couldn’t be happier to see the citizens of Lexington pulling up their sleeves to create the city in which they want to live!

At ProgressLex, we want to do our part to support this grassroots, civic energy. That’s why we are offering two Now What, Lexington? Micro-Grants of up to $500 each for projects proposals that grow out of NWL ’13!

You can check out the full application by clicking here.

Please be mindful of the timeline below when submitting an application:

April 17, 2013 – Grant application opens
May 8th, 2013 – Last day to submit grant applications
May 16th, 2013 – ProgressLex will announce the winner of the board-selected grant
May 20th, 2013 – ProgressLex will open voting for the second grant winner
May 31st, 2013 – Voting will close for the second Micro-Grant award
June 3rd, 2013 – ProgressLex will announce the winner of the second $500 Micro-Grant

Thanks again to all of Lexington’s change agents for your work last Saturday. We look forward to helping cultivate and support your energy for a thriving, diverse and beautiful Lexington!

NWL ’13: A new energy in Lexington

Nathan Dickerson — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 15:14:03 +0000

Help us design the future of our city at the Now What, Lexington? (NWL) unconference!

RSVP here.

NWL is an unconference, which means the participants get to design the sessions. The event began as a citizen-driven follow-up event to the Creative Cities Summit, and today NWL serves as a platform for change agents who want to proactively write the next chapter of Lexington’s story.

If you’re free this weekend, join us at the Carnegie Center.We’ll get started at 9:30 am on Saturday, April 13th.

Interested in being a sponsor? Email us here or check out our existing sponsors here.

We’re bringing NWL back for 2013 because there is a definite energy in Lexington. After seeing our city’s public art projects on CNN, world-class landscape architecture firmscompeting to design an urban commons, a 21C hotel coming downtown, and ordinary citizens helping hundreds of young girls discover their inner potential, you start to get a feel for the transformation taking place.

NWL is an event for people who share the optimism and diligence to transform their community for the better. We believe we can build a community around a progressive vision of Lexington by bringing change agents together, and this capacity-building will help make Lexington a place that its talented and creative people are happy to call home.

You can meet a few of those change agents below:

Bring your ideas for the future of Lexington, and see you this Saturday!

Lexington’s Pension Reform Is about Our Future

Nathan Dickerson — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 14:59:46 +0000

The current, national zeitgeist is one of pessimism about the future in general and government in particular. The most emailed article on The New York Times over the weekend was “State-Wrecked: The Corruption of Capitalism in America.” David Stockman, the author, captures this dark mood perfectly:

The future is bleak…. These [fiscal] policies have brought America to an end-stage metastasis. The way out would be so radical it can’t happen… The United States is broke — fiscally, morally, intellectually… When the latest bubble pops, there will be nothing to stop the collapse.

Sounds like a great time to be a young person, right? No wonder a majority of Kentuckians believe the next generation will be worse off financially.

But before we toss in the Chapter 11 towel, consider this piece from Governing Magazine about what our can-do spirit here in Lexington recently accomplished:

Most states and many municipalities have passed some kind of pension reform in recent years, but only a few [Lexington included] did so in a way that addresses the immediate unfunded liability of their plans… Overcoming [employees’ and employers’] broken trust can mean that pension reform doesn’t have to be mandated from on high, but reciprocity is an absolute requirement. Lexington Mayor Jim Gray believes he’s done just that with reform the city passed in January and has since been approved by the state legislature.

That’s welcome news for young people here who are bombarded with bleak assessments of what our country can accomplish. The national mood is what makes our optimism so audacious, and the local leadership that had the foresight to bring in national experts to craft a workable solution to the pension problem in record time is what makes that optimism so credible. Not every city has moved forward with such a smooth, inclusive and confidence-inspiring process.

So kudos to Lexington—from the city to the unions—for having an eye on posterity. Before the reform passed, the city’s annual contribution for pensions had quadrupled from 2000 to 2012, going from $7 million to $29 million. At that rate, the city would have to start cutting services and our credit rating could have been downgraded. The recent pension reform means that future generations of the city won’t have their dreams swallowed by public debt obligations. David Stockman may be right in saying our national future is “bleak,” but in Lexington I see the wherewithal in terms of budget and leadership to build a great American city for future generations.