Legacy-building is cultivated with empathy and a view for future development and community vitality. When you sit down and hear Drew Dawson’s story, you will be hard-pressed to see his life as anything but a life of public service with consideration for the betterment of Montana and country.
It is easy to identify Dawson’s deep-rooted connection to the Boulder community. His father was the Postmaster in Boulder for 33 years; his mother, the English high school teacher; his grandfather lived on a ranch just south of Boulder; his brother was the county sheriff for several years. Dawson claims residency in Boulder for over 50 years and his only hiatus was to earn his college degree from the University of North Dakota and the 12 years he spent working in our nation’s capital.
Dawson has a high level of compassion and appreciation for civic responsibility. His passion for rural communities to provide medical services is always on the forefront of his priorities. How fitting that his favorite TV show was EMERGENCY! It might be easy to say he was influenced by this show, which debuted in 1979 and ran for seven seasons.
He entered college as a pre-medicine student. However, when he took his intro to psychology course, he said his instructor made the class “come alive” and thus it changed his career path. Dawson has always had an infatuation with everything medical, including scientific experiments, as they relate to changes in human behavior. After four years of college, he went on to graduate school. After a year in graduate school, he realized that individual clinical practice of psychology was not his calling and he moved back to Boulder.
While back in Boulder, he worked for the Montana Developmental Center or MDC. At the time (1970-1972), it was called the Boulder River School and Hospital. Dawson was also a volunteer emergency medical technician and director of the Boulder volunteer ambulance service. From 1972-2003, he held various jobs in Helena including planner, grant specialist and various positions with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services. Dawson says the Helena commute was his “time for reflection.”
In 2003, he moved to Washington D.C. While working there, he would travel back to Boulder a couple of times each year, and he also stayed connected to the community by reading the local newspaper, the Boulder Monitor. Upon retiring, he was captivated by news of the MDC closure and the collaboration of Boulder residents working towards creating a community of planning and action.
The collaboration group called Boulder Transition Advisory Committee (BTAC) was created in September, 2015 with the intent to involve residents in a planning process that could help shape the future of Boulder. The purpose of BTAC is to engage the community about thefuture of Boulder and help develop a plan that identifies actions and resources needed to move the community forward. Dawson attended the meeting in December when first discussions of appointing a BTAC chair were deliberated. He was then approached by Boulder Valley resident, Terry Minow, on becoming the BTAC chair. “Drew seemed like a natural choice. He is committed to the community,” Minow said. “He is a kind, thoughtful person who genuinely cares about the people of our community, including workers and patients at MDC.” At the January meeting, a motion to appoint Dawson was passed. At that time, he discussed his desire to be more involved and assist with the Boulder future planning efforts. Dawson officially took over the volunteer role of BTAC chair in February, 2016.
Dawson says the principles and structural decision making, along with good citizen engagement and involvement of the BTAC group, align closely with his career work in health and human public service. He is especially proud of the BTAC committee process and the work of citizen engagement and proactive futuristic thinking.
He strongly believes in a bottom-up approach, not top-down. The BTAC work continues to build community ability to address the Boulder economic future. With Dawson’s leadership, the BTAC has morphed into the community’s strategic visioning team which is made up of a diverse group of community leaders, local government officials, engaged area citizens, school officials, faith leaders, business owners, and community organizations. The project is named “Making Boulder’s Future Bright.”
Dawson is looking forward to future community and economic development in Boulder. He hopes the Making Boulder’s Future Bright process establishes the groundwork to improve the Boulder economy while being reasonable and consistent with the Boulder vision statement, thus sustaining the comfortable, rural lifestyle for the people of Boulder. He looks forward to citizens being engaged in determining Boulder’s future. Lastly, he believes that Boulder can “create a diverse economy that assists with the retention and expansion of existing businesses, diversifies economic opportunities and promotes recreation development without losing its charm and character.”
Boulder’s citizen action approach and authentic influence success is widely due to Dawson hitting the pavement. His volunteerism, leadership, vision, dedication, collaboration, and synergy is leading the revitalization of this rural community all because of his deep-rooted sense of belonging and community pride.
SIDE BAR
After the 2015 State Legislature passed Senate Bill 411 mandating the closure of Boulder’s largest employer, Montana Developmental Center (MDC), Boulder residents took the opportunity to rebrand themselves as they saw their future economic viability seriously threatened. The project, Making Boulder’s Future Bright, established a community vision and adopted community goals for a community rebranding.
The Making Boulder’s Future Bright project created a positive image and rekindled community pride. The BTAC was instrumental in the spring 2016 Study Circle process, the Making Boulder’s Future Bright Master Plan document, activating the Main Street Montana affiliation, gathering a team of seven to participate in the Building Active Communities Initiative, and securing $500,000, called the Boulder Development Fund, at the 2017 Montana State Legislature. Collaboration of community involvement continues as Boulder focuses on quality of life indicators, planned growth, new economic diversity and preserving their natural beauty and small town atmosphere.