The Hermiston 2040 project began in January 2021 with the development of the Hermiston Community Profile, a snapshot of how people in the community currently live, work, learn, and play. Through exploring where the community has been, the profile lays the foundation for where the
community would like to go in the future. Additionally, the demographic and trend research in the profile informed the public outreach methods to effectively engage the community in a variety of ways.

The Project Team, along with the Steering Committee, comprised of representatives from local organizations, developed an inclusive community engagement plan to gather a diverse set of ideas so the vision and values would be reflective of the community. Engaging as many people in the community as possible in a variety of ways develops a supported and celebrated community vision and action plan. They employed a broad assortment of tools and multiple locations to engage the community throughout the process.

A guiding principle of the community engagement plan was inclusion. Throughout the community vision project, the Hermiston 2040 team reached out to people of all ages and backgrounds. Key documents and tools were available in Spanish and English, including fact sheets, e-blasts, social media posts, radio interviews, surveys, and focus groups.

The resulting Hermiston 2040 Vision was developed and organized to be a living and dynamic plan that guides the city organization, elected officials, community partners, and others in advancing the goals and actions in alignment with the community’s vision over the next twenty years. The following recommendations for implementation are based on experience and best practices compiled from other communities. The goals for vision implementation include:

• Continue to develop and maintain community partnerships;
• Update community goals and actions to maintain their relevancy;
• Inform the community of progress and sustain engagement and support for the vision; and,
• Maintain community accountability for implementation.

The recommended implementation process assumes the involvement of the city, community partners, an Oversight Committee, and the community. This process can be modified to meet the needs of Hermiston and align with the resources available for vision implementation.