Leadership Hoover wraps up 1st year
The first class of Leadership Hoover has completed its mission, with the graduation of 34 men and women who spent nine months learning about the city and how to help it grow and prosper.
Members of the first class began their journey in September with a two-day retreat at the Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel and a team-building ropes course at Red Mountain Park.
After that, they spent a day together each month focusing on various aspects of life in Hoover. The only exception was January, when snow delayed a focus on economic development until April, when the group also studied business development and entrepreneurship.
There was an education day, where they visited Hoover’s two high schools and the Faulkner University and Jefferson State Community College campuses in Hoover. There was a public safety day, where they heard from the Hoover police and fire departments and the Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency and visited the Hoover 911 call center and city jail.
On quality of life day, they were introduced to numerous nonprofit groups and visited cultural and entertainment amenities such as Aldridge Gardens, the Finley Center, Hoover Public Library and Moss Rock Preserve nature park.
In February, for their government day, the group traveled to Montgomery to meet with legislators and watch the Legislature in session, and in March they studied health care. Graduation was in May.
The first class worked on five projects, Leadership Hoover Chairman Joe Thomas said. One group developed the blueprint for a website to welcome new residents and visitors to Hoover. Another developed a model for a drug and alcohol abuse education program for middle schoolers, while a third group drafted a youth leadership training program for highschool sophomores.
A fourth group created a video to promote the Hoover school system’s new Riverchase Career Connection Center, and a fifth group developed a business plan for a business incubator similar to Innovation Depot in Birmingham.