Footprint on the future

Centennial celebration includes long-term look at North Carolina counties

By Todd McGee
Communications Director

The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners has been protecting county interests and enhancing county government for 100 years. During the past century, the role of counties in North Carolina’s intergovernmental system has changed considerably.

Noted futurist Glenn Hiemstra will serve as the keynote speaker during the Conference's opening session Aug. 22.

If the only constant truly is change, what then can we expect for the next century? To help North Carolina’s counties figure out where they want to be in the next 100 years, noted futurist Glenn Hiemstra will gaze into his crystal ball during the NCACC’s 101st Annual Conference to see what kinds of forces will shape counties in the coming years and what actions can be taken now that will help shape the future of North Carolina counties.

“Anniversaries are wonderful opportunities to look ahead and to look back,” said Hiemstra, who will serve as the keynote speaker during the opening session of the Annual Conference, which will be held Aug. 21-24 in Craven County. “I particularly like to speak at events like a 100-year anniversary. We can recall key events, trends and developments of the past 100 years. Then, assuming at least as much change in the next 100 years, and probably more, we can imagine three futures for counties – the probable future, the possible future, and most powerfully the preferred future.

“The images of the future that we have tell us what to get ready for, what to try to avoid, and what to do now to make it more likely we will achieve our preferred future. In this sense, challenging people to imagine their preferred future is the most potent thing we can do to influence wise decisions and actions today.”

According to Hiemstra, the further into the future you look, the more choices you have to make.

“What the county is going to look like in 2010 is pretty well set,” he said. “But what you look like in 25 or 50 or 100 years depends very much on choices made between now and then. Thus, taking a long-term view is important to seeing the choices we have available to us.”

Hiemstra is most often invited to speak to groups when they want to look further into the future than they usually do. During his two decades as a “futurist,” his clients have included a balance of public sector and private sector entities. In recent years he has assisted the State of Idaho in envisioning transportation in 2030 and libraries of the future; the Michigan Department of Transportation envisioning transportation in 2030; and the United States DOT on a transportation vision for 2050. He is currently working with the Atlanta Regional Commission on a “Future Fifty” project to imagine and plan for 2060.

Hiemstra is the founder and owner of Futurist.com, a company dedicated to disseminating information about the future in order to assist individuals, organizations and industries in creating the futures they prefer. An internationally respected futurist, he has advised professional, business and governmental organizations for two decades. He is the author of “Turning the Future into Revenue,” from John Wiley & Sons, 2006, and is co-author of “Strategic Leadership: Achieving Your Preferred Future.”

As an expert in preferred future planning and a popular keynote speaker, Hiemstra zeros in on emerging trends in science, technology, economics, demographics, energy, the environment and transportation. In his mind-stretching programs, he goes beyond simple trend analysis to discuss the opportunities that we all have to shape a future of hope and possibility.