By Dean Hybl and Irv Welling

In today’s hustle and bustle it is often hard to think past next week, but for just a few minutes let’s fast forward ahead 25 years for a brief look into the future.

What will our Upstate be like in 25 years?

Will it still be a great place to live, work and raise a family? Will we have maintained our natural beauty, developed world class schools and created a highly skilled workforce that has helped our region be one of the emerging economic centers in the country? Will there be jobs and an attractive quality of life that encourages our children and grandchildren to settle here and prosper?

While those are all desired outcomes for us to work toward, there are some things about the future that we already know.

Over the next 25 years more than a quarter of a million people will be moving here, largely from other parts of the country. They won’t care about county lines or city boundaries. They will want quality schools, welcoming parks, safe neighborhoods and public amenities that support the quality of life they will be seeking. All will want their investment in homes and businesses to be protected by reasonable land use planning. They won’t care much about our feelings of local false pride and the squabbles of the past. They will be residents of the Upstate as much as they are residents of Greenville, Spartanburg, Union, Gaffney, Abbeville, Clinton or any other specific community in the region.

We also know that the global economy of the current century is different than the traditional economy of the past. Economic success will come to geographic areas that have recognized that it is no longer about individual communities doing their own thing, but instead about regions that come together to create a regional economy, regional workforce, regional infrastructure and build their global clout by capitalizing on the strengths of all communities within a region. In this global paradigm the competition for the Upstate is not from within, but instead from other regions, many of whom already have their regional acts together.

Knowing now some of what the future holds provides those of us who call the Upstate our home today an important opportunity, and responsibility, to ensure that we help shape the future growth of our region in a way that is consistent with what we value. We could sit idly by and just let growth happen, but we then run the risk of losing many of the precious characteristics that make the Upstate so special.

Creating a vision for the future that is based on what matters most to those of us who are here today will help us be prepared for the future and provide an opportunity to start identifying and acting on the issues that are most important to our residents and that can be addressed across city and county boundaries.

Ten at the Top (TATT) is a relatively new regional organization that was created to foster a spirit of collaboration cooperation and trust amongst public, private and non-profit leaders across all ten counties within the Upstate.

Before TATT can really begin focusing on bringing together the right people and organizations to address regional-scale issues, it is imperative to gain an understanding of what issues are important to residents of the region.

For that reason, we are spending 2010 developing a Shared Upstate Growth Vision and implementation strategy to provide a roadmap that gives regional organizations, business leaders and elected officials an understanding of what elements of our future matter to residents of the Upstate.

Creating a Shared Growth Vision for the Upstate that is truly representative of all 1.35 million people who call this region home requires input and engagement from as many residents from across the region as possible.

It is the belief of Ten at the Top that Every Voice Matters. Between now and May 31^st, we are asking all residents of the Upstate to share “What Matters Most” to you by participating in the Shared Upstate Growth Vision survey. Please go to www.sharedupstatevision.org to participate in a brief online survey designed to help create an understanding of what elements of future growth are valued by residents of the Upstate.

The Upstate in 2010 is a wonderful place to live and raise a family. It is up to all of us to ensure that the region remains a great place where our children and grandchildren will always be able to live, learn, work and play.

Dean Hybl is the Executive Director of Ten at the Top. Irv Welling is the Chairman of the Board of Directors.