Vision 2020 officials are happy with the progress organizers made in 2013, and say 2014 is shaping up to be an even bigger year.

“I don’t think I could be any happier with the progress made this year,” said Laura Helle, director of creative vision with Vision 2020.

Committees have made progress securing grant opportunities, planning for larger projects and executing smaller projects.

Some of the larger accomplishments this year include progress on a community recreation center, which is currently going through further planning. There was also the Community Pride and Spirit Committee’s involvement with the Community Home Improvement Project. The project, under the Austin Housing and Redevelopment Authority and the Freeborn-Mower Habitat for Humanity, improved seven homes in northeast Austin this summer.

Other projects include the Peer Power Partners mentoring program for general and special education students at I.J. Holton Intermediate School, the Austin Area Business Forum, which provides seminars and network opportunities for entrepreneurs, and the Bike-Walk Trails Committee’s Bike Safety Day, along with its grants to assess Austin on safe trail routes to area schools.

Yet each committee found ways to contribute to the community, which adds up for Austin’s quality of life, according to Mayor Tom Stiehm.

“They make a difference for a lot of people,” Stiehm said. “It’s people from Austin basically helping people from Austin.”

Yet 2014 will likely be the biggest year yet for Vision 2020 and organizer plans. Vision 2020 officials are helping various organizations come together and grow, from the Austin Area Commission for the Arts potentially creating an arts center in downtown Austin, to further plans between the YMCA of Austin and city officials to potentially run the community recreation center. In addition, other groups like the Gateway to Austin Committee will work to design a new visitors’ center, while the Bike/Walk Trails Committee will work to help complete the Shooting Star Trail from Rose Creek to Austin.

Of note are the two latest Vision 2020 developments: A community concierge to welcome new residents, and a new Austin nonprofit focusing on education and business partnerships.

The community concierge is part of AustinWorks, a program helmed by the Austin Area Chamber of Commerce dedicated to helping newcomers acclimate to Austin and providing services for new families, from trailing spouse connections to information on various city offerings. The chamber is currently seeking more business partners and are looking to hire the concierge.

Meanwhile, Vision 2020’s Education Leaders Committee is busy creating Austin Aspires, a new nonprofit under the national STRIVE network to, in effect, create more ties between area schools and area organizations, which could lead to better educational opportunities for Austin students.

“Right now, the three major educational institutions [Austin Public Schools, Pacelli Catholic Schools and Riverland Community College] have all officially voted that they are going to participate in the project,” Helle said.

While it remains to be seen how the community will step up for Austin Aspires, Helle said, other towns with similar efforts have organized reading at home campaigns, among other examples.

There will also likely be more news from the Community Wide Technology Committee on creating a broadband fiber network in Austin.

With all these big projects, Stiehm said, city officials will likely be called upon in a greater capacity to help projects along. Though it’s unclear how much in taxpayer dollars the city may spend on Vision 2020 projects, Stiehm said, any funding decisions or increased services will have to be approved with resident support.

“There’s going to be a job selling this to citizens,” he said. “It’s not that the city is going to jump in and do this, this and this. We’re going to see what the city wants.”

Helle said she has seen an enormous amount of support from residents for Vision 2020, as well as from major organizations like Hormel Foods Corp., the Austin hospital, Austin Public Schools, and others.

“It feels like all of the important players are not only stepping up, but they’re stepping out of their usual box,” Helle said.

That could be the difference to improve Austin.

“This is a real game-changer for the city of Austin,” Stiehm said. “If just half of this stuff goes through as planned, it’s going to raise our quality of life significantly here.”