Like many other local governments, Albemarle County is anticipating a “retirement tsunami” in the near future and is looking at the potential loss of long-time senior leadership and significant institutional knowledge. The average age of County employees is 45 and the average age of County department heads is 54. Currently about 28% of our employees are eligible for full or reduced retirement benefits; by June 2014, that percentage is expected to rise to 35.5%.  At the same time, particularly difficult budget times have required our employees to think and act more innovatively than ever, develop a stronger sense of “ownership of the whole” rather than working in departmental silos, and to embrace best practices and use of performance indicators.   Creating the “Innovative Leaders Institute” (ILI) allowed our organization to stay focused on our values of innovation and learning at a time when funding for professional development has been very limited. It also provided structure and support to build organizational leadership capacity and retain high-potential employees, position the organization as forward looking and focused on excellence as we respond to our new budget reality, and support SPQA and high-performing organization values. For these reasons, we believe the ILI is a building block to creating and sustaining a “Cool Community.”