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It is my pleasure to share the first Triangle Tomorrow newsletter with you. The newsletter will be distributed quarterly in an effort to keep you informed about our projects and regional collaborative efforts.
Triangle Tomorrow, a program of the Research Triangle Regional Partnership, is now in its 14th year. We continue to work closely with business leaders to improve the quality of life and economic competitiveness of the 13-county region.
Quality of life is part of what makes our region healthy. Businesses are paying more attention to quality of life in location decisions. In our nation’s information and knowledge-based economy, jobs increasingly follow talented workers. A skilled educated workforce looks for regions with a high quality of life, including a vibrant arts and culture scene, affordable housing, abundant recreational opportunities, clean air and water, and quality educational opportunities. Triangle Tomorrow leadership believes that our work must be regional in scope, address issues that will impact our future without duplicating existing efforts, all while remaining flexible to ever changing challenges and opportunities.
We are very proud of our work on air quality, education leadership and land use planning. In this newsletter you will learn about our successes in:
- Growing the Triangle Air Awareness Program
- Launching a new air quality education website
- Introducing a new kid-friendly air quality mascot program
- Managing the national award-winning SmartCommute Challenge program with Triangle Transit Authority and SmartCommute@rtp
- Implementing a support program for K-12 education leadership
- Partnering with the Triangle Urban Land Institute District Council on a land use planning project
We have added over a dozen new members this year and continue to involve member companies in our project work.
Comments and inquiries are always welcome, as is the opportunity to speak to you about how you might become active in Triangle Tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Roger Perry
Chairman, Triangle Tomorrow
President, East-West Partners
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 Last year, Triangle Tomorrow, through its Triangle Air Awareness program, launched a new educational mascot for children called CLAIR the Clean Air Explorer. CLAIR has been such a big hit, she's recently appeared several times on the local news.
"CLAIR, the Clean Air Explorer, is a spunky pre-teen girl who travels around the region looking for clean air clues," says Triangle Tomorrow Executive Director Pam Wall. "We hope Clair and our new web site will help raise awareness among residents of all ages about the issues of air quality facing our region and what they can do to help improve it."
CLAIR the Clean Air Explorer, sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, is played by real life professional actress, Madeline Taylor.Her appearances have entertained and educated children ages 4-8. She made several appearances this summer and will continue to make appearances throughout the school year.
To see CLAIR in action and read recent news articles, please visit:
Watch for ClAIR's sidekick C.A.M., the Clean Air Maniac.....coming soon to an event near you!
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When Triangle Tomorrow was formed in 1992 as the Greater Triangle Regional Council, its mission was to serve as a regional leadership think tank on issues facing the Triangle’s future. As Triangle Tomorrow took on a more action oriented role in project work, the board wanted to ensure that our “roots” were not lost. Last year the Regional Advisory Council was formed under the leadership of Jim Goodmon, President/CEO of Capitol Broadcasting and a Triangle Tomorrow gold member.
The Council is made up of the top level leadership of our gold members and is charged with developing the future programs of Triangle Tomorrow. Recently, the Council agreed on two areas of major interest for project work: regional education as it is affected by leadership challenges and social inequity, and regional infrastructure and how it will be impacted by growth in upcoming years.
The Council asked the Triangle Tomorrow board of directors and executive director to gather more detailed information on educational leadership. Over several months, board members and staff met with Erskine Bowles, President of the UNC System, retiring superintendents McNeal and Denlinger, a variety of school administrators, and heard presentations from private sector education initiative leaders. Dr. Fenwick English, the R. Wendell Eaves Distinguished Professor of Education Leadership at the UNC School of Education, was asked to provide information on this topic.
This September, the Council met to receive information from President Erskine Bowles, Dr. Bill Atkinson, CEO of WakeMed, Dr. Neil Pierson, Superintendent of Chapel Hill School System, Dr. Joe Peele, Director, Triangle Leadership Academy and Vann Langston, Executive Director, Triangle High Five. Additional support of the Triangle Leadership Academy to train principals was identified as project work for Triangle Tomorrow that would not duplicate other efforts in our region.
Currently the board of directors and executive director will meet with Academy leadership and others to begin further discussion on this project. For more information on the RAC, or about participating, please contact Pam Wall at 281-2743.
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We would like to extend a warm welcome to our newest members:
Gold Members: |
• Hyde Street Holdings, Inc
• WakeMed |
Silver Members: |
• Time Warner Cable |
We also thank the following member for increasing their investment in Triangle Tomorrow:
Upgraded to Gold: |
• University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
• Duke University
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Upgraded to Silver: |
• East-West Partners
• O’Brien/Atkins & Associates
• York Properties
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Upgraded to Bronze: |
• Kennedy Advisors, LLC |
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Earlier this year, the board of directors of Triangle Tomorrow hosted the second annual member-guest event at Brier Creek Country Club. ClAIR, the Clean Air Explorer, the mascot of the Triangle Air Awareness Program, greeted guests with “Clean Air Clues” and provided educational materials on air quality.
Outgoing chair, Mack Paul, introduced the new slate of officers of the board of directors, including Roger Perry, incoming board chair, Smedes York, incoming vice chair, and new members Michael Lemanski, President, Greenfire Development, Harvey Schmitt, President, Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, and Jesse White, UNC’s Director of Economic and Business Development. It was also announced that Tina Valdecanas, Vice President of Corporate Strategy, Research Triangle Foundation, was completing the term of Rick Weddle, the Foundation’s President and CEO.
Guests were given a preview of the new website by web developer, Janet Mobley of FatCat Strategies. The site features links to Triangle Tomorrow members, and continual updates of project work and meetings. The site also links to the Triangle Air Awareness Program, a program managed by Triangle Tomorrow.
Sig Hutchinson, who has co-chaired the air quality initiatives with Scott Gardner of Duke Power for the past 3 years, brought the group up to date on programs including the 2006 SmartCommute Challenge, the children’s education program and a diesel technology education task force led by Gregory Poole Equipment Company. This task force focuses on issues of diesel retrofit, anti-idling technology and pollution reduction.
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Michael Lemanski, president and CEO of Greenfire Development and one of Triangle Tomorrow’s newest Board members has been getting a lot of press lately. Both the News & Observer and the Herald Sun have run articles about his creative strategies in developing downtown Durham into a viable and attractive city center.
Greenfire Development is a Durham, North Carolina-based community development company. The company focuses on the revitalization of underutilized and historic inner-city properties. This 3-year old company is positioned to be one of the most influential players in downtown Durham redevelopment.
Michael’s vision for a region offering quality of life at its highest complements the mission and goals of Triangle Tomorrow.
read the N&O article
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The Board of Directors of Triangle Tomorrow has set a two-year plan to identify and address issues that affect the Research Triangle Region's ability to compete globally for economic opportunity. The work plan addresses issues of air quality, education and land use. The board agreed that the Research Triangle Region will be globally competitive only if our communities collaborate to identify and address these issues regionally.
Read the full press release
See the work plan
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