Leaders of the city’s largest business organization are looking to complete their vision for guiding the community years into the future.

And they’re asking the organization’s 1,700 members for ideas by the end of next week.

The Lawrence Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors is asking members to e-mail their input related to three of Lawrence’s “key areas” already identified by the board as appropriate for focus:

¢ Distinctive spirit and atmosphere.

¢ Superior amenities.

¢ Robust and sustainable economics.

“This is your opportunity to look forward in time and comment on the key attributes of the community in these categories,” the chamber said, in an e-mail newsletter. “We’ve got a great community. Let’s get it right for those who are here today and for the citizens of tomorrow.”

The effort comes as Lawrence city commissioners also are pursuing a community vision, one to be relied upon by current and future leaders to guide land-use decisions, economic development efforts, recreational opportunities and dozens of other matters that will shape the community.

Mayor Boog Highberger, who made the visioning exercise a key goal for his yearlong mayoral term, said he was looking forward to receiving the chamber’s vision. The city and the chamber recently shared the cost of bringing in a team of architects to study the community’s strengths and weaknesses, and to offer a formal report.

The report is expected in the next few weeks – about the time the chamber’s vision is revealed, in time for the city to convene more public meetings to discuss forming an overall community vision.

“I see it as part of a bigger process,” Highberger said.

Pat Flavin, chairman of the chamber’s board, said chamber leaders already had received input from dozens of stakeholders in the community in forming the outline of a vision. Now it’s time for chamber members to offer their thoughts as a formal expression early next year.

“I look at it as a framework for really good, civil discussion going forward, as we’re faced with issues about change, about growth, about how to prioritize resources as we go forward,” Flavin said. “I think it will help us govern better as we decide where we want to go, and how we want to live.”