2026 Maximize NWMO Regional Community Forum

New Data Available Related to Northwest Missouri's Quality of Life

You have a role in maximizing Northwest Missouri's potential!

Leaders, residents, and other stakeholders in Northwest Missouri who are interested in the economy, health, social connections, housing, the built environment, education, and our natural resources showed up online to listen, learn, and share their thoughts!

WHY:

They CONNECTED with regional neighbors in many sectors! You can listen in on the discussion of Maximize NWMO's results from the 2025 and 2020 ALUMNI & RESIDENT SURVEY with MU Exceed’s Alan Spell!

They learned about UPDATED RELEVANT DATA as a snapshot of the region’s life expectancy, air quality, high school graduation rate, number of “not good” mental health days, median income, high-speed broadband access, and % of sub-optimal houses, and more.

They also DISCUSSED the SHARED PRIORITIES that the Maximize NWMO GUIDING COALITION has been exploring and raising as key opportunities to work on together over the next five years. The Guiding Coalitions is comprised of a cross-sector and cross-jurisdictional regional Partner Council, Network Coordination & Support Team, and Navigation Team a.k.a. Community Foundation Board Committee.

Participated in a BREAKOUT DISCUSSION to share ideas and desires related to local, county, and regional leadership.

WHEN:

Virtual Gathering via Zoom Wednesday, May 20, 2026 | 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Registration was a FREE Zoom link! The only cost was two hours of time and participation, thanks to the generous support of the Patterson Family Foundation for Maximize NWMO’s 2025-2026 Strategic Action Plan.

VIEW RECORDING: Click on the link in the video section of this page.

CONNECT TO NEW OPPORTUNITIES

CLICK HERE to learn more about Maximize NWMO's Leadership and Team Learning Opportunities to Take Your Community to the Next Level

Please email together@maximizenwmo.org for more information.

This is a great place to live, learn, work, play, and thrive. Now is the time to come together and maximize the potential of our communities and region!

Thanks to the Patterson Family Foundation, The University of Missouri Extension and Exceed, and the Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri’s Regional Vitality Initiative donors for making it possible for Maximize NWMO’s Guiding Coalition to serve as a backbone of coordination, communication, and data access support for community and regional leaders interested in “dreaming big and growing together” to maximize the potential vitality of our 18 counties including Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Caldwell, Clinton, Daviess, Dekalb, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Holt, Linn, Livingston, Mercer, Nodaway, Putnam, Sullivan, and Worth.

2025 Maximize NWMO Regional Community Forum

THE ACTION CONTINUES!

You can help Maximize Northwest Missouri's Potential!

Community, business, education, elected and other leaders participated in the Maximize NWMO 2025 Online Regional Community Forum Online Event on June 11th. This page is for all those and more who want to access the slides and the recording. Please check out the links on this page.

CONNECT TO NEW OPPORTUNITIES

CLICK HERE to learn more about Maximize NWMO's Leadership and Team Learning Opportunities to Take Your Community to the Next Level

Please email together@maximizenwmo.org for more information.

This is a great place to live, learn, work, play, and thrive. Now is the time to come together and maximize the potential of our communities and region!

Thanks to USDA-Rural Development/SECD, Patterson Family Foundation, The University of Missouri Extension and Exceed, and the Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri’s Regional Vitality Initiative donors for making it possible for Maximize NWMO’s Guiding Coalition to serve as a backbone of coordination, communication, and data access support for community and regional leaders interested in “dreaming big and growing together” to maximize the potential vitality of our 18 counties including Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Caldwell, Clinton, Daviess, Dekalb, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Holt, Linn, Livingston, Mercer, Nodaway, Putnam, Sullivan, and Worth.

2020 Fall Maximize NWMO Regional Community Forum

THE ACTION CONTINUES!

You can help Maximize Northwest Missouri's Potential!

100 Community, business, education, and elected leaders registered for the Maximize NWMO Fall 2020 Online Event on November 18th with several dozen more asking for recordings of the event! This is your page if you couldn't join us online! Please check out links to videos in the list below and the slide decks in our library on this page. We split the video into five parts for easier viewing.

Biannual Update - Wednesday, November 18, 2020

VIDEO PART 1: The WHY Behind Maximize NWMO with Christel Gollnick - CLICK HERE

VIDEO PART 2: Overview of The Maximize [My Community] Journey Framework and Announcement of New Programs with Jackie Spainhower, Christel Gollnick, Lowell Kruse, Linda Place, Steve Wenger, and Joe Lear - CLICK HERE

VIDEO PART 3: Demonstration of Recent Regional Data Informing Collaborative Discussions and Decision-Making with Christel Gollnick, Max Summers, and Steve Wenger - CLICK HERE

VIDEO PART 4: Maximize NWMO Progress Celebration and Recognition with Christel Gollnick, Max Summers, Mary Hinde, and Steve Wenger - CLICK HERE

VIDEO PART 5: Alumni & Resident Survey Preliminary Findings presented by the MU Exceed Team of Dr. Mallory Rahe and Dr. Sarah Low - CLICK HERE

WHY

Learn what nearly 200 community leaders have prioritized, and more than 2,000 people with ties to the region have shared over May-November 2020 to improve the vitality of northwest Missouri.

The Maximize NWMO Navigation Team shared an overview of what The Maximize [My Community] Journey is all about and what progress is being made throughout the effort. A limited number of matching grants are available to communities adopting the framework for community coaching, data resources, and administrative support to implement the process of moving from knowing your story, visioning a new story, and taking action to create meaningful growth. Attendees participated in conversations (not recorded due to Zoom breakout room limitations) regarding the role of community members in advancing healthcare, education, business and entrepreneurship, and quality of life.

Over the lunch hour, Dr. Mallory Rahe and Dr. Sarah Low from the University of Missouri Extension Exceed program and Christel Gollnick from JUPER Communications shared preliminary findings from an Alumni & Resident Survey that surpassed 2,000 participants over the summer. The team also recognized the many partners and volunteers contributing to the activity taking place amid COVID-19 to dream big and work together across 18 counties.

CONNECT TO NEW OPPORTUNITIES

CLICK HERE to learn more about the new REGIONAL LEARNING COLLABORATIVE

This is a group tour online through The Maximize [My Community] Journey Framework with the Maximize NWMO Team and other communities in a program that meets twice a month from the end of January to the end of August in 2021.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the new Community-Centered Coaching and Support Program

This is a guided expedition through The Maximize [My Community] Journey Framework with the Maximize NWMO Team providing you and your county or community group with personalized support. All participants in this program are automatically enrolled in the above Regional Learning Collaborative as well.

Email together@maximizenwmo.org for more information.

This is a great place to live, learn, work, play, and thrive. Now is the time to come together and maximize the potential of our communities and region!

Thanks to the Missouri Department of Economic Development, USDA-Rural Development, The University of Missouri Extension and Exceed, and the Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri’s Regional Vitality Initiative donors for making it possible for Maximize NWMO’s Navigation Team to serve as a neutral backbone of support for community and regional leaders interested in “dreaming big and growing together” to maximize the potential vitality of our 18 counties including Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Caldwell, Clinton, Daviess, Dekalb, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Holt, Linn, Livingston, Mercer, Nodaway, Putnam, Sullivan, and Worth.

2020 Spring Maximize NWMO Regional Community Forum

Where the Regional Community Conversation Began

If you missed the first step held on 4.29.2020 where we introduced Maximize NWMO and presented a synthesis of research and recommendations, don't worry. It's easy to catch up with the links listed below.

Two general areas surfaced as actions our region can move forward right now: Connecting and Promoting the Region. While these are interdependent, there are several specific activities that have been identified for representatives to work on together right now that will move both topics forward quickly. Online conversations have been taking place weekly on Thursday and Friday mornings throughout May. Participants are being guided through a quick and easy action-mapping tool to help keep the planning simple and the efforts focused on meaningful action.

Watch the Video of our April 29th online intro presentation: Click here to watch!

Download the slides from the Document Library

The Library is on the right side (or towards the bottom if viewing on a mobile device) of this page.

Dr. Sarah Low and Hannah McClure from the University of Missouri Extension Exceed program joined Christel Gollnick from JUPER Communications in presenting an overview of The Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri's Regional Vitality Initiative: Maximize NWMO. A recent synthesis of existing regional strategic plans and entrepreneurship pipeline-building recommendations was covered. Regional population data were also shared with a call to action for regional leaders and residents to get involved in transforming the primarily rural region's economy amid and post-COVID-19.

A Communications CollaborACTION Team has Formed!

The PROMOTING THE REGION conversation has resulted in the formation of a multi-sector team of volunteers who are willing to help with their opinions and expertise over the next several months We've scheduled the meetings of this team through the end of June every Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. and the team will choose their ongoing schedule based on the short-term and longer-term projects they decide to move forward. There are some pretty fun and impactful ideas being discussed.

This is a great place to live, learn, work, play, and thrive. Come help with the necessary steps involved in gathering great stories, highlighting our region's best assets, further building out this website as a portal of information, and launch a fun integrated marketing campaign including the whole region. COVID-19 gives us an opportunity to determine what we love most about living here and position ourselves as a great place to maximize potential.

Email together@maximizenwmo.org for the Zoom link or to let us know you'd like to learn more about getting involved.

Discovery Groups Were Organized to Learn More

Several priority areas surfaced through the May conversations about connecting people and resources throughout the region beyond traditional community and county lines. These things are bigger than any one entity can address, so it was decided to invite more people to the conversation and learn what everyone is doing to determine if more unified action would be helpful or if these topics are already being covered and they just need some help in communicating what is happening. The priority topics discussed in Discovery Groups over the summer included:

• Broadband for All: Technology/Accessibility, Affordability, and Adoption

• Business and Training Options Here: Succession/transition planning for businesses and raising awareness of opportunities and education available in Northwest Missouri

• Food Systems

  • Support for Niche Ag/Artisan Foods
  • Production here for here
  • Alternate distribution channels

Northwest Missouri is doing a lot of things right that can be built upon to maximize our potential! Thank you to the Missouri Department of Economic Development, USDA-Rural Development, and the Community Foundation of Northwest Missouri’s Regional Vitality Initiative for making it possible to gather and share this research.