St. Johns County Strategic Plan 2024-2029
Welcome to the community engagement webpage for St. Johns County's strategic plan. This is a place where you can help define the County's mission, vision, goals and objectives for the next five years.
This plan’s success depends on input from people like you – who know and love St. Johns County, and have a vested interest in making it an even better place to live. To make the Strategic Plan work we need YOU! Please complete the survey, answer the forum question, and give us your thoughts on the interactive map. We hope you visit this website often to stay up to date about how the process is progressing.
Introduction to the Strategic Plan
Community Meetings
A series of Community Meetings were held for the St. Johns County 2024-2029 Strategic Plan. During the meetings, participants learned about the strategic planning process and had an opportunity to share their vision for the future of St. Johns County.
Project Schedule
Project Initiation and Mangagement
Community Engagement and Strategic Analysis
Strategic Plan Development and Budget Integration
Implementation Planning
Want to stay informed and engaged? Click below to provide your information.
Please provide your name and email address.
Want to host a community meeting? Download the meeting-in-a-box document.
Provide Your Input: Interactive Map, Forum, and Survey
Open Forum
Add your thoughts for the future vision of the County.
Survey
Take this brief survey to help us understand how we can make the County a better place for all.
What have others asked about Strategic Planning?
Here is a list of our frequently asked questions.
What is strategic planning and why is it important?
Strategic planning is an organizational management activity to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals, establish agreement around intended outcomes/results, and assess and adjust the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. It is a disciplined effort that produces fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, who it serves, what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future. Effective strategic planning articulates not only where an organization is going and the actions needed to make progress, but also how it will know if it is successful.
What is a comprehensive plan and how is it different than the strategic plan?
A comprehensive plan is state-required document designed to guide the future actions of the County. The Comprehensive Plan will provide guidance to landowners and developers, assist community members with future growth and development, and coordinate local decision making.
Find more information on the Comprehensive Plan here..
Why does St. Johns County need a strategic plan?
A strategic plan is the tool that keeps the team and the entire organization headed in the same direction and serves as a blueprint for the long-term sustainability of the County, its programming and services, its operations, its infrastructure and County government in general. A strategic plan prioritizes mission-critical activities and how to align the County's budget with these priorities to increase efficiency and effectiveness. If the County does not think strategically and make the effort to plan for the future, we may struggle to maintain our focus and make progress toward the outcomes that are most important for the residents and businesses in our community.
Who will be developing the strategic plan?
The County has planned for broad engagement of residents, businesses, community stakeholders, nonprofits and community-based organizations, elected officials, advisory board and committee leadership, County leadership and staff. Everyone in the County will have the opportunity to be involved in the process and provide input in several ways and at different project milestones.
What are the different ways people can be involved?
Elected officials, County leadership and staff, advisory board and committee representatives and representatives of various community stakeholder groups will be invited to participate in group and individual interviews. Residents will be able to post comments and ideas on the County's social media platforms, as well as a community engagement platform designed specifically to support the strategic planning project. The platform, called Social Pinpoint, can be accessed from the County's website and includes:
- A survey about community needs, desires, and strategic priorities.
- An interactive map where community members can post their thoughts about County focus areas.
- A forum where community members can post thoughts about the future vision of the County in 5 years.
- The downloadable information for meeting-in-a-box and holding your own meetings throughout the community.
Who is the consultant and how were they selected?
Our consultant is BerryDunn, a national consulting firm dedicated to serving state and local government agencies. BerryDunn believes effective government helps make lives better for all and ensures our country is competitive in the world economy. The firm was chosen through a competitive procurement process.
BerryDunn’s team members have decades of local government experience: the project manager brings in-depth knowledge and involvement with strategic planning, change management, and relationship building through their strong communication, leadership, and project management skills.
What will we do with the strategic plan once it is complete?
The strategic plan is a living document that we will use to define the future vision for the County. Having a strategic plan allows us to:
- Communicate our priorities within a credible, forward-thinking and well-understood framework so we can make effective budget and policy decisions and secure the resources we need to sustain the County into the future.
- Maintain a guiding “north star,” providing stability and more certainty in the face of election cycles, changes in leadership, economic fluctuations and changes to the state and federal regulatory environments. This gives the County greater ability to influence and steer its future direction and make better decisions during turbulent times.
- Make decisions and evaluate our policies, plans, programs, and service delivery for all County residents.
