Community Leadership Visit
For more than 29 years, a delegation of Springfield community leaders has traveled to a peer city, to learn from the experiences of another community and to bring back ideas that will benefit the Springfield region.
These visits have provided the opportunity to learn best practices from other cities in a wide range of areas, from downtown redevelopment and regional partnerships to education, workforce and diversity. In addition, these visits give the chance to interact with leaders in other parts of the country while also building and strengthening relationships in our own community.
There are many examples of the tangible benefits that have been brought to Springfield over the years by this program. This article looks at some of the most noteworthy.
You can also click on the links below to take a look back at each of our past visits.
"On the Community Leadership Visit, you don't just see the community. You understand why it does what it does, why it is what it is. We don't necessarily visit these places to copy what other cities have, but we learn their ways of thinking, organizing, getting things done. It's not so much the 'what' but the 'how.'"
- Tim Rosenbury
City of Springfield
"Springfield is one of those unique places where you can participate in community action and really see the impact. The Community Leadership Visit lets us get outside of our own bubble, to see what advantages and challenges there are in other communities. When we learn about them, we learn more about ourselves by experiencing what others are doing."
- Brad Erwin
Paragon Architecture
"BKD (now Forvis Mazars) has chosen to participate in and sponsor the CLV each year for more than a decade. I can’t think of a better investment we could make in the future of our community! Each year, the investment of time and resources produces a great return through the amazing connections, civic engagement and community-shaping ideas this program brings to our region."
- Gary Schafer
Forvis Mazars (formerly BKD, LLP)
"I’m grateful to see the direct impact this program has had on our local educational system over the years. It has fostered intentional opportunities to discover best practices in education and long-term infrastructure investment that have been implemented locally to maximize our schools. In addition, we’ve been able to create valuable connections with our local leaders as well as our peers across the country."
- Alina Lehnert
Former Springfield R-12 Board of Education Member
Community Leadership Visit 2026
We look forward to the Springfield Chamber's 32nd annual Community Leadership Visit in Fall 2026! If you would like to express your interest in attending the 2026 trip, please click the link below.
Please reach out to Lauren Shantz or Tori Mercado with any additional questions.
The Community Leadership Visit has traveled to 26 different communities since 1994
to learn best practices and bring some of those ideas back to our region.
Post-Trip Reports
The 31st Community Leadership Visit to Cincinnati examined how intentional public space activation, downtown reinvestment, and aligned leadership can drive revitalization and long-term economic growth. The visit highlighted the importance of collaboration, decisive leadership, and reducing silos to advance shared community goals.
2024 - Durham, North Carolina
The 30th Community Leadership Visit highlighted how Durham and the Research Triangle leverage public-private partnerships, higher education, and a unified regional identity to fuel innovation, attract talent, and support economic growth.
2023 - Tulsa, Oklahoma
The 29th Community Leadership Visit to Tulsa, Oklahoma focused on streamlining processes, public and private sector partnerships, regional economic development, talent attraction, and meeting challenging history with new opportunities.
2022 - Northwest Arkansas
The trip to the Northwest Arkansas (NWA) region, a switch from previous visits to a single city, highlighted NWA's significant population growth generated by leaning into the strength of collaboration, investing in a regional brand, capitalizing on natural outdoor assets, focusing on the talent and industries of tomorrow, and engaging the private sector to progress forward with one identity and vision.
2021 - Springfield, Missouri
The second trip to Springfield focused on the city's growth and investments that make this the place we choose to call home, the strength of our collaboration and community assets, and opportunities to lean into our regionalism and outdoor amenities.
2019 - Lexington, Kentucky
In our return trip to Lexington, attendees focused on the city's well-defined identity, its ability to tackle tough issues with a spirit of collaboration, and its investments in downtown, education and workforce.
2018 - Chattanooga, Tennessee
The second CLV trip to Chattanooga focused on the city's long-range planning initiatives, its ability to highlight its natural beauty, its decision to make gigabit Internet available to all residents and its innovative education programs.
2017 - Boise, Idaho
In the first repeat location for a CLV, the focus was on the outdoors, bold leadership, reinvestment in the center city, and efforts to continue a long tradition of regional collaboration.
2016 - Greenville, South Carolina
The trip to Greenville looked at downtown development around a bold vision, investment in workforce development, and a history of successful public-private partnerships.
2015 - Huntsville, Alabama
Springfield's visit to "Rocket City" looked at Huntsville's aggressive approach to economic development, its focus on science and technology, and its investments in transportation and education.
2014 - Omaha, Nebraska
The visit to Omaha looked into the city's efforts to brand itself, their approach to workforce development, their efforts surrounding entrepreneurship and the business community’s level of philanthropic support.
2013 - Nashville, Tennessee
When Springfield leaders visited Music City, they focused on the city's entrepreneurial ecosystem, talent attraction efforts, innovative approaches to education and more,
2012 - Fort Collins, Colorado
The trip to Fort Collins looked into the city's downtown resurgence, its efforts in enhancing quality of life, its connection with its university, and its approach to encouraging entrepreneurship.
2011 - Tupelo, Mississippi
Visitors to this Gulf city tried to discover what makes up the "Tupelo Spirit" - a mix of humility and swagger, a focus on planning for the future, and a friendly and collaborative approach to problem-solving.
2010 - Springfield, Missouri
The 2010 "visit" was unique in the program's history, in that we never left Springfield. Instead, we looked at our own community's "best-kept secrets" - the strengths we can build on and weaknesses we need to address.
2009 - Grand Rapids, Michigan
The trip to Grand Rapids focused on that city's philanthropy sector, its commitment to sustainability in the environment, economy
and social equity, and its life sciences industry.
2008 - Madison, Wisconsin
The visit to Madison looked at city and county government sustainability efforts, the connection between the university and the business sector, and the ongoing commitment to education and workforce development.
2007 - Knoxville, Tennessee
In Knoxville, Springfield leaders learned about the city's focus on scientific and manufacturing innovation, the impact of the University of Tennessee, the connection between the city and the region and the importance of downtown development.
2006 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City taught us about regional partnerships, redevelopment of their downtown core and investment in education - specifically through the MAPS program - as well as a focus on biosciences.
2005 - Des Moines, Iowa
When the Springfield delegation visited Des Moines, they learned about the importance of regional partnership, airport redevelopment, the focus on center city and investment in education.
2004 - Asheville, North Carolina
In Asheville, the focus was on the revival of the city's downtown district, community and business support for education, and the value of collaborating at the regional level.
2003 - Lexington, Kentucky
For the 10th annual visit, Lexington leaders told us about their annual Community Livability Report, their commitment to growth management, center city revitalization efforts, and improvements in the education system.
2002 - Little Rock, Arkansas
The program agenda in Little Rock focused on downtown redevelopment, including the city's River Market District and downtown arena, and regional job creation efforts in the 11-county area.
2001 - Charlotte, North Carolina
The trip to Charlotte, unusual for the size of the target city, was helpful in that it yielded valuable information about regional economic development, business-education partnerships, center city revitalization and local government cooperation.
2000 - Spokane, Washington
Our visit to the hub of the Inland Northwest focused on regional partnerships, downtown revitalization, arena development, education and the importance of air transportation.
1999 - Colorado Springs, Colorado
The 1999 trip to the Rockies focused on air transportation, tourism and utility deregulation, as well as the ways the military and sports industry have impacted the local economy.
1998 - Chattanooga, Tennessee
In our visit to Chattanooga in 1998, participants looked at the city's sustainable development efforts and protection of the outdoors, as well as center city revitalization progress - including the development of the then-new Tennessee Aquarium.
While we don't have post-trip reports from the first four Community Leadership Visits, these visits were crucial in developing what the program would become in subsequent years. They helped form the foundation for many elements of the visit, including the group discussion structure and the importance of interaction with both our peers and each other.
1997 - Boise, Idaho
1996 - Peoria, Illinois
1995 - Tulsa, Oklahoma
1994 - Spartanburg, South Carolina