Friday, August 27th, 2021
Southern Tier 8 Regional Board awarded the 2021 NADO Aliceann Wohlbruck Impact Award for the Better Connection Program!
The Impact Awards program honors NADO members for their creative approaches to advancing regional economic development and improved quality of life. These projects have made significant impacts on their regions and demonstrate the diversity of services and program delivery provided by regional development organizations across the country.
The 2021 class of awardees consists of 102 projects from 70 organizations spanning 23 states.
The Southern Tier 8 Regional Board received the 2021 NADO Aliceann Wohlbruck Impact Award for the Better Connection program that was launched in June 2021. This program was designed to promote better connectivity and services throughout the region now and in the years to come.
The innovative approach on asking users to “rate their relationship with their internet” was clever, fun, and most importantly effective. We look forward to seeing the progress of this program in the years to come.
Southern Tier 8 Regional Board worked closely with its local partners in all 8 counties to clearly understand the issues residents are facing with their internet speed, connection, and usage.
“Understanding the data, or in this case the lack therof was key to outlining the target areas we needed to focus on.” - Jen Gregory Executive Director of ST8
The Southern Tier 8 Regional Board hired Hue Creative Agency in Binghamton NY to develop the creative communication and design for this program.
“Working with Hue was great. Love the frustrated narrative which really speaks to all the issues we heard and the humor in the program along with the innovative design. This is what we needed to help folks feel at ease and connected to the program.” - Jen Gregory Executive Director of ST8
The Southern Tier 8 Regional Board works with partners across the region in strategizing their programs, understanding issues, and creating forward-thinking solutions
“Without our partners, this would not be possible. Their detailed feedback and commitment to the project and issues within their jurisdiction was very beneficial to helping us outline the path to the Better Connection Program. “- Jen Gregory Executive Director of ST8
Broome County Planning Department, Broome Tioga BOCES, The Agency, Chenango County Planning Department, Commerce Chenango, Cortland County Planning, Delaware County, Delaware County Economic Development, Otsego County Planning, Otsego Now, Schoharie County, SEEC - Schoharie Economic Enterprise Corp, Team Tioga, and Tompkins County Planning & Sustainability.
For a detailed look into the Better Connection Program go to betterconnection.org
For a full list of the award recipients click this link https://www.nado.org/2021_impactawards/