What is the CPC?

A Comprehensive Planning Committee (CPC) is guiding and supporting the Elevate Elwood 2035 Plan. Successful plans have a dedicated group of stakeholders who guide the planning process by offering feedback, participating in public meetings/focus groups alongside the public, sharing the document with peers, and advocating for the plan’s adoption at the end of the process. The CPC meets regularly throughout the planning process to discuss different aspects of the plan and review specific sections within the plan. They also participate at various engagement events and make decisions about the general direction in which the plan should proceed.

The Elevate Elwood 2035 CPC met for the first time on Wednesday, May 26th. The committee is comprised of various City of Elwood staff, decision makers, nonprofit organization leaders, and representatives from Elwood’s anchor institutions like the Elwood Community School Corporation and Life Church. This meeting entailed summarizing the planning process, introducing CPC members to the Madison County Council of Governments (MCCOG) staff working on the plan, and conducting a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis.

The SWOT Analysis helps the MCCOG planning team establish a baseline for Elwood according to its stakeholders. This baseline allows the planning team to ask the public more targeted questions about Elwood and guides the plan’s recommendations. The CPC offered significant feedback for each aspect of the SWOT Analysis, which sets a strong foundation for the MCCOG planning team moving forward. The MCCOG planning team recorded feedback on a flip chart as well as an online whiteboard. The online whiteboard allowed those who attended the meeting digitally to share their thoughts in real time, and we will continue offering the online whiteboard to connect with digital meeting attendees in the future.

Thank you to all who attended the first Elevate Elwood 2035 CPC meeting for participating!