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Board of County Commissioners 200 East 4 th Street / P.O. Box 99 • Woodbine, GA 31569 Phone: (912) 576.6682 • Fax: (912) 576.5647 • www.co.camden.ga.us “Georgia’s Coastal Community of Choice” STEVE L. HOWARD O. BRENT GREEN County Administrator County Attorney PRESTON RHODES – Chair KATHERINE NISI ZELL – Vice Chair STEPHEN L. BERRY Commissioner, District 1 Commissioner, District 2 Commissioner, District 3 CHARLENE SEARS DAVID L. RAINER Commissioner, District 4 Commissioner, District 5 Press Release Contact: Steve Howard / Diana Smith Phone: [PHONE REDACTED] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 9 a.m. EDT, March 20, 2008 Camden County Adopts Its First Five Year Strategic Plan Woodbine, GA – March 20, 2008: On March 18, 2008, the Board of County Commissioners adopted the first ever Five Year Strategic Plan for Camden County. This plan was created in order to appropriately allocate resources and act responsibly in accordance to its vision and mission statements. This plan makes every attempt to identify what is important in our community. Camden County is a community in transition, with challenges and opportunities presented by our continued growth and diversity. In order to respond effectively and be successful, we must respond strategically to the needs of our citizens. The Board of County Commissioners began the steps to meet this challenge with the endorsement and support of a Strategic Planning Steering Committee and a Citizens Survey requesting input from the people regarding key issues they believe most strongly affect the future of Camden County. The Strategic Planning Steering Committee and input received from the citizen’s resulted in the development of three key strategic focus areas. These focus areas include Growth & Development, Fiscal Sustainability and Organizational Excellence. ---PAGE BREAK--- Press Release: Camden County Adopts Its First Five Year Strategic Plan “Georgia’s Coastal Community of Choice” 2 Growth as a strategic issue is admittedly complex. Growth includes both positive aspects that contribute to the community and negative aspects that can decrease the quality of life for residents. We also recognize that different growth strategies are necessary for different areas of Camden County. Our primary purpose for addressing growth as a strategic issue is its direct link, by citizens and elected officials, to maintaining a high quality of life in Camden County. Growth decisions today affect our ability to be fiscally responsible to our citizens; therefore, we must understand the relationship of growth, the environment, infrastructure, economic forces and transportation planning. Fiscal Sustainability points to developing revenue sources and partners with other entities to: ensure that growth and change pay their way, fund achievement of the strategic plan’s goals, and financially sustain services valued by the community. While maintaining an internal focus on efficiency and productivity, we will increase our external focus on public and partner involvement. Organizational Excellence focuses upon those goals, actions, and tasks that we must continue to promote in order to serve our community responsively. The specific areas identified as essential components of Organizational Excellence include: services, human resources, technology, facilities and organizational development. Once the key focus areas were determined and input from the community and departments throughout Camden County Government, the committee then began the process of establishing goals in order to achieve their objectives. The next steps that faced the Steering Committee was establishing appropriate strategies and action steps to accomplish the goals identified. The adoption of this plan represents the first steps of the strategic management and planning system which links the goals and strategies to the strategically developed expenditure plan that will be utilized during future budget processes. The Board of County Commissioners realizes that the only way to protect the future of Camden County is through proactive long range planning. “With this plan as its guide, the County is poised to meet tomorrow’s challenges today.” – Steve L. Howard, County Administrator -End-