MBiz

26 mbiz | may 2015 c e n t r a l / m i d W e s t i n September of 2014, a select group of people were recruited by the Portage la Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce (PPDCC) as 'Agents of Change' in a highly secretive undercover project: Mission of Possibilities. Each received a package which included recorded instructions and a small amount of cash in unmarked bills. It was not wired to self-destruct. The PPDCC joined forces with the Portage la Prairie Community Revitalization Corporation to launch the project, which challenged the agents to make a positive change in the community. They had a deadline of 30 days, the project had to be documented, and it had to be kept secret until the big reveal. The financial investment? $100. Change effected? Priceless. Cindy McDonald, executive director of the Portage Chamber, says the idea had been floating around for a few years, but suddenly, the timing was right. "We called it Mission of Possibilities because our city had just inaugurated the new slogan City of Possibilities," she says. McDonald needed people with a very particular set of skills to pull off the caper. Nine agents were chosen based on their active involvement in the community. They were so successful at keeping the project under wraps that it wasn't until the launch of the results video at the Chamber's Best Business Awards that one community member realized she had been poSSible miSSionS force agents oF change take on secret challenge By Wendy King

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