Within the next two weeks

a consultant will be hired to direct the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce’s strategic plan.

The consultant will be a &uot;facilitator&uot; for the chamber’s five year strategic plan: a road map for projects that the community wants taken care of, Hamersly said. It has been under development for the past seven months.

A committee made up of community leaders interviewed three candidates last week, and should make a final decision soon, according to Marge Hamersly, the president of the chamber.

&uot;We’ll be discussing which candidates have the qualities we want,&uot; she said.

The three candidates come from companies in Milwaukee, Madison and Minneapolis.

So far, $40,000 is budgeted for the project, a fund some say is too weak to hire a company to make a comprehensive plan.

Hamersly said that the chamber considers this plan the &uot;first phase,&uot; and expects more planning in the future.

&uot;We’ll see how far we can take these dollars,&uot; she said. &uot;But right now we aren’t looking at a $150,000 strategic planning process. That’s what you attach to a comprehensive plan for large governmental bodies like the city.&uot;

Hamersly said the goal of the chamber project is to get an picture of what the community wants for the future of the city.

She said that local people will be trained to lead sessions with different groups from the community.

&uot;Our listeners will be trained to conduct round-table discussions under the guidance of a neutral facilitator,&uot; she said. &uot;We are going to try hard not to ask leading questions.&uot;

When asked if the committee will, in the end, be more representative of the voices of the predominately active people in the community, Hamersly said it would be the other way around.

&uot;We want to give a chance for the public voice to be heard,&uot; she said. &uot;We aren’t going to suggest any particular types of activities to work on, that’s what we are asking for.&uot;

(Contact Peter Cox at peter.cox @albertleatribune.com or 379-3439.)