Emmett/Gem County Community Review Report Summary

Strategic Thoughts & Themes
Valley of Plenty of Assets
Emmett and Gem County are blessed with so many fantastic assets; breathtakingly beautiful
scenery, a rich and colorful community heritage and identity, abundant water throughout the
river valley, solid infrastructure, outstanding recreation opportunities, strong and capable
local leadership in organizations and agencies too numerous to list, and committed citizens
who repeatedly indicated they were more than willing to engage to make their community an
even better place to live, work, play, and raise a family.
We encourage residents to appreciate, emphasize, and more fully employ these underutilized
and under appreciated assets! Liabilities and perceived liabilities will be minimized of their
own accord with sufficient emphasis on the positive. During our visit, Visiting Team
members remarked repeatedly that Emmett and Gem County already have many of the
elements in place that numerous other communities around the nation long to develop and
sustain. How can the region come together to develop a shared vision and improve
planning and communication efforts so it is working more fully in collaboration, not
competition
‘Fight change and die. Accept change and survive. Lead change and thrive.’
Emmett and surrounding Gem County are in the midst of an intense time of transition and
face numerous challenges of which we cite only a few:
• Attracting new jobs and industry to the region
• Improving quality of life in the community
• Ensuring new growth, development, and construction supports community values
and remains affordable for all residents
• Addressing infrastructure challenges in transportation, telecommunications, waste
water, park and riverside development, downtown revitalization, and community
design in a time of scarce resources
• Honoring the contributions of all diverse residents by welcoming newcomers while
sustaining the livelihood of long-time residents
• Balancing the needs of commuters with those of local agriculture producers
It is no longer possible for community leaders, board members, and elected officials to look
only at their two to four year term of service when planning for the future. How community
leaders collaborate now to address these challenges will be critically important to the region’s
success in the coming decade and quarter century.
Managing change will be most important in the following areas of communication and
relationship building, strategic and comprehensive planning, and moving from vision to
action through a regional and collaborative mindset.
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