We made it! On January 13, 2016, the communities of Arlington and Darrington were named one of 15 semi-finalists in the America’s Best Communities competition. The competition, sponsored by Frontier Communications, DISH Network, CoBank, the Weather Channel, and their partners, is an economic revitalization prize for change agents in small towns and rural communities across the Frontier Communications Service Area in 27 states.
In the first round of the competition, the communities of Arlington and Darrington identified five goals to attain in the revitalization competition: Healthy Main Streets, Natural Resources, Tourism Development, Broadband Access, and Healthy Youth. In last six months, five action teams comprised of citizens, businesses, and educators have taken those opportunities to the next level and identified the set of tasks that can be implemented in the next year to begin to attain those goals. The development of this action plan was completed with guidance and expertise from our partners at Economic Alliance Snohomish County, Washington State University, and Community Attributes.
As part of the Semi-Finalist round, a team from the Arlington-Darrington communities will attend the upcoming America’s Best Communities Summit to present our plan to a panel of esteemed judges. The top three communities — those with the most innovative proposals being effectively implemented — will share a total of $6 million in grand prize money. The winning community will be awarded $3 million, with $2 million for second place and $1 million for third.
Further Information Listed Below:
Link to the City’s webpage where there are links to the ABC press releases and the Arlington-Darrington Community Revitalization Plan http://www.arlingtonwa.gov/index.aspx?page=37&recordid=712&returnURL=%2findex.aspx .
This plan was developed with community participation from the North Stillaguamish Valley Economic Redevelopment Plan found here: https://www.economicalliancesc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/CAI.-N.-Stillaguamish-Valley-Economic-Redevelopment-Plan-2015-1026_Low-R….pdf
The America’s Best Communities Webpage is: https://americasbestcommunities.com/
The Facebook Pages can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/StillyValleyABC and https://www.facebook.com/AmericasBestCommunities , tag with #ABC15
