“We would like to see this community come to be.. the very best community of its size in the country…”
That quote from J. Irwin Miller has remained the north star for Columbus since the former Cummins CEO said those words in 1964. A new community initiative — Quest: Building America’s Best Community — seeks to build upon the legacy of Miller’s quote by formally adopting a shared vision of what “building America’s best community” looks like today and into the distant future.
Organizers said that adopting a shared vision would ensure the city maintains a long-term focus, regardless of short-term considerations.
Quest will gather public input to pinpoint overarching strategic areas of focus, or “pillars,” that serve as the basis for the type of community Columbus will be into the future, and encourage every individual and organization to have a hand in the ongoing process to realize those strategies, organizers say. Some of those pillars could be “Lifting Economic Growth and Vitality,” “Growing our Future Through Education,” or “Cultivating an Inclusive and Connected Community,” as some examples.
Quest will place an emphasis on process, rather than any specific outcome. However, organizers said they hope that over time, having a shared vision will lead to people, businesses and organizations locating here because of their alignment with that vision.
“It’s just as true today as it was the day he said it, and it’ll be true into the future,” said Rick Johnson, a local entrepreneur and member of Quest’s steering committee, of Miller’s quote. “That’s kind of a framework that we’re trying to create as well. The plan and the work that we’re trying to do is about creating a framework and a vision that will be just as true 70 years from now as it is today.”
A key component of Quest is its distributed leadership, Johnson said.
“Our idea here is not to have a few community leaders kind of decide what best looks like and then try and enlist support,” Johnson said.
Quest organizers are holding a public workshop on Thursday from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at The Commons to hear input and provide information about how people and organizations can get involved. Another is planned for Nov. 18.
Attendees will be asked to consider what the “best” community means to them, and think of ways that themselves, or organizations they are part of, can work with others in the city around shared areas of focus.
“Times have changed, the world has changed. COVID has come. For Cummins, which is the largest employer, decarbonization is a big deal. We are largely a manufacturing community, and the world is changing in front of us,” said Srikanth Padmanabhan, a former longtime Cummins executive. “This community could be a bedroom community for lots of people, but there are lots of people that are moving away from here, going to Carmel and other places, if you will. And so we asked ourselves the question: What do we want to be?”
Padmanabhan likened Quest to a “moon shot” that “gets you to a point where your aspirations are bigger than each one of us by ourselves,” saying that “the only way to do that is collectively.”
Padmanabhan mentioned the potentially apocryphal story of then-President John F. Kennedy, in the midst of the space race, asking a janitor at the Houston Space Center what they did, with the janitor replying: “Mr. President, I’m putting a man on the moon.”
“If that connection can happen with every individual in this community, which is 50,000 people, to do something that is noble, that is bigger than each of us, I think it will align a community far better than anything else,” Padmanabhan said. “That’s kind of why this has stuck around for 60 years. And we’ve taken it to the next level— it’s not just the best community of our size, we are saying Quest: Building America’s Best community.”
Jack Hess, executive director of CivicLab, said the initiative is a means of moving away from a community leadership model of just a couple of people, to involving an entire community.
“The best way to do that is to preserve those shared values as we kind of make that transition,” Hess said.
Quest is set over two phases, with a third, “plus” phase, theoretically lasting in perpetuity.
The first phase is the creation of likely four overarching strategic areas of focus around which the community can unify efforts towards. The second phase will encourage people around the community to create a vision for what “best” looks like in their specific focus area where they have the needed expertise. The third – or “plus” phase involves encouraging people to continue finding their own way to participate and support their personal vision of “best” in a manner that also supports the wider community.
Quest organizers are working with Indianapolis-based Storyboard on engaging with local organizations and the wider public.
Hess said the plan is for stakeholders to begin organizing around a completed set of pillars at the beginning of next year, with a report of the work Quest is doing to come in the second quarter of 2026. Work in support of the pillars will start simultaneously.
More information and updates on Quest can be found at questcolumbus.org.
Quest – Building America’s Best Community Steering Committee
Mary Ferdon – Mayor, City of Columbus
Rick Johnson – Johnson Ventures
Srikanth Padmanabhan – former EVP, President Operations, Cummins Inc.
Mark Elwood – Chairman & CEO, Elwood Staffing
Edie Blakeslee – President & CEO, Heritage Fund
Jack Hess – Executive Director, CivicLab
Dr. Jim Roberts – President & CEO, Community Education Coalition
Jim Lienhoop – Former Mayor, City of Columbus
Brett Merritt – President of the Engine Business, Cummins Inc.
Jim Schacht – Vice President, Cummins Inc.
Bonnie Boatwright – Facilitator, Quest Columbus
More information: Questcolumbus.org
