Stay tuned for more details and background on the winning photos!
Land of Sky Regional Council (NC)
This photo was taken of local high school students using one of the resources provided by the Land of Sky P20 Council’s FAFSA P.A.C.K. (Promotions for Awareness & Completion Kit).
Every aspect of life as we know it has been shifted in some way or another these past few years. It comes as no surprise that in a time when schools were closed and so many other aspects of our everyday lives were on hold, the numbers of students applying to college and for student financial aid decreased significantly. No matter the temptation to dismiss the downward trend of students continuing their education post – high school as one that will repair itself now that the world has re-opened, educators everywhere have been seeing this trend even before the pandemic. Echoing the sentiments of students and families in previous years, when 2022 graduates were asked why they had not chosen college, many cited financial concerns for their lack of enthusiasm for that route.
With the financial barrier to attending college in the forefront of students’ minds, it has become a large focus of college access efforts throughout the state of NC, and the Land of Sky Region in Western North Carolina is no different. Due to the many financial options that completing the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) can unlock for students seeking post-secondary education, there has been a great deal of focus on supporting students and families in that process. Thanks to the tireless efforts of our local high school counselors, and the many local and statewide organizations supporting them, students throughout North Carolina and the WNC region completed the FAFSA in larger numbers in 2022 than 2021, with many schools in the area continuing the upward trend into 2023. For example, there was a collective 10% increase in among the five school systems under the P20 umbrella. While we have seen great growth, the region must continue to experience strong increases in order to fill our workforce credentialing gap and our share of myFutureNC’s 2030 goals.
The P20 Council hopes that by offering FAFSA P.A.C.K. for any agency of the region to use at no cost for settings/events that we can increase FAFSA awareness among students and their families. This kit involves cornhole boards featuring local college logos, prizes, a spinning prize wheel with prepared questions and answers that addresses common misconceptions about the FAFSA, and other materials for a comprehensive set up dedicated to this cause. Read more here.
Tri County Economic Development District (WA)
In July of 2023, Seattle City Light and the Colville National Forest hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate two new overlook areas, Peewee Falls and Riverside Canyon, located on the east side of the Boundary Reservoir in northern Pend Oreille County. The reservoir is part of City Light’s Boundary Dam Hydroelectric Project, offering outdoor recreational opportunities to visitors from across the region. Featured in the photo are Chris Townsend, Seattle City Light Director of Natural Resources and Hydro Licensing, and Carin Vadala, District Ranger at Newport Sullivan Lake for the USFS- Colville National Forest.
The new overlooks provide stunning views of the landscape and make these sights more accessible to the public. Each location is equipped with restroom facilities, picnic tables, parking spaces, and easily navigable gravel walking trails. The overlook platforms include benches for visitors to sit and enjoy the views.
Tri County Economic Development District actively collaborates with the Colville National Forest in promoting the region for tourism development. Through strategic planning and cooperative efforts, the Tri County Economic Development District works to foster the potential of the Colville National Forest’s natural allure with tourism-based economic opportunities in Pend Oreille County.
Metropolitan Area Planning Agency (MAPA) (NE-IA)
First Avenue, a former railroad corridor vacated in 2013, is one block south of Council Bluffs, Iowa’s main thoroughfare, West Broadway. Nearly 60% of Council Bluffs residents live within one-mile of this corridor. The grand opening of this multi-modal corridor enhances the operation of West Broadway, makes an essential link in the trail system, creates a transit link to Downtown Omaha, and provides the opportunity for redevelopment of obsolete industrial properties.
FIRST AVE is an acronym for the City’s comprehensive approach to redeveloping this corridor:
Furthering Interconnections, Revitalization, Streetscapes, Transportation, and Aesthetics for a Vibrant Economy.
The trail is part of the urban core strategy which Omaha and Council Bluffs are working on together. MAPA awarded a Heartland 2050 Mini-Grant from Surface Transportation Block Grant funding to help fund the First Avenue Transit Alternatives Analysis. The alternatives analysis identified a possible future streetcar line extension from downtown Omaha into Council Bluffs along the First Avenue corridor. MAPA also awarded funding for and is working with Council Bluffs on a Planning and Environmental Linkages Study regarding a multimodal bridge to connect future transit into the corridor.
Mid-Minnesota Development Commission (MMDC)
Minnesota’s winters are notorious for being long, cold, and dark. One of the beautiful effects of the cold, though, is the atmospheric optical phenomenon called a sundog. Sundogs look like halos because of the hexagonal ice crystals that act as prisms. This photo was taken on a typical Minnesota winter day with a temperature of minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit (-4 ºF). Yes, someone actually stood outside in subzero weather to capture this photo!
The wind turbine shown in the background is one of two wind turbines used to provide renewable energy to the city of Willmar, Minnesota. With a population of approximately 21,000, Willmar is located in Kandiyohi County, two hours directly west of Minneapolis. The Mid-Minnesota Development Commission (MMDC) region includes the four Minnesota counties of Kandiyohi, McLeod, Meeker and Renville. MMDC’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) supports renewable energy projects and encourages sustainable practices throughout the region.
Miami Valley Regional
Planning Commission (OH)
North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning
& Development Commission
Development Bank
of American Samoa
River Valley
Regional Commission (GA)