In April 2005, the City of Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce and WorkSource embarked on Blueprint for Prosperity, a comprehensive strategic plan designed to improve our community and raise the income of Duval County residents by concentrating efforts in six foundation areas: Education, Economic Development, Quality of Life, Racial Opportunity & Harmony, Infrastructure and Leadership.

Each of these targeted areas of improvement is led by a team of volunteers who implement identified strategies in each foundation by recruiting Blueprint Partners and facilitating alliances among key community organizations.

Implementation Process:

1. Engage as Blueprint Partners those organizations already working on strategies outlined in the Blueprint to better educate our citizens about the existing programs and services available in the community.
2. Recruit Blueprint Partners to adopt and implement new Blueprint strategies.
3. Engage current alliances already working on strategies outlined in the Blueprint to better educate our citizens about the existing programs and services.
4. Establish new alliances to adopt and implement Blueprint strategies.

History
Jacksonville residents played a crucial role in the Blueprint's development.  A task force representing five major geographical regions in Duval County compiled input from focus groups and community meetings into the draft Blueprint.  In addition, the team identified key benchmarks to be used in measuring the campaign's progress, including statistics in the areas of income, education, jobs, racial opportunity and harmony, poverty, family stability, public safety, health care and housing.  The draft was presented to nearly 15,000 local citizens for a last review, and the final plan was approved in February 2006.

Ongoing
Each year the Blueprint Executive Committee identifies one or two strategies per foundation around which a Strategic Alliance of key organizations is formed.  This structure allows for each strategy to receive the full attention it deserves.  With these strategic alliances in place, Blueprint's cumulative process takes effect.  The following year different strategies are chosen for new Strategic Alliances, while the previous year's alliances continue to create lasting improvements. 

Specific strategies under each foundation are often interrelated, as progress in one area may directly impact another area.

The Blueprint Executive Committee and staff continues to work diligently to recruit new partners and establish new alliances to address the concerns raised by the citizens of the Jacksonville community during the public input phase of Blueprint.  The community will be informed of the progress on the key benchmarks on an annual basis.