Tennessee Economic Development

Hickman County Economic & Community Development Association, Inc. will hold its next meeting on February 16th at 6:30p.m. at the East Hickman Community Center. The board voted to have one night meeting per quarter to allow more people to participate in its business meetings. All board meetings are open to the public, but the board is sending out a special invitation to everyone to join them to learn or contribute.

I am attending the TVA Economic Developers Forum tomorrow and Friday. Part of tomorrow’s activity will be completing the inaugural class of the TVA Rural Leadership Institute, which includes economic development professionals from Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia, Mississippi, Kentucky and Alabama.

Joanne Steele tells the story of “How the Internet Levels the Playing Field for Local Small Businesses.”

StartupTN this week gave a progress update and launched what may be Tennessee’s first startup database for public use.

It is a cold, sunny morning in Hickman County, Tennessee at the office of Hickman County Economic & Community Development Association, Inc.  On February 7th in Hickman County, Tennessee,  Hickman County citizens will be busy discussing the possibility of a new festival for Hickman County.

Governor Bill Haslam recently unveiled his TNForward legislative package.  Most interesting to economic development professionals is more flexibility in the FastTrack program without sacrificing accountablity.  The FastTrack program is an important tool in helping communities help businesses create jobs and increase capital investment.

Start a new small construction or general contracting business now?  With a contraction of construction firms during the recession, there may be room for some start-ups as construction and remodeling begin to pick up.  If you are considering it now or want to be ready in the spring, this is a good article from the SBA website.

Watching the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life is a holiday tradition for a lot of us. I just saw a clip of it on Facebook today and was reminded how much George Bailey and the Bailey Bros. Building & Loan Association were involved in economic and community development. From recruiting Sam Wainwright’s plastic manufacturing facility, to helping Martini in his business, to developing affordable housing to retain Bedford Falls’ labor force, to designing and developing neighborhoods — George Bailey and the economic development efforts of the old Building & Loan made a more wonderful life for the residents of Bedford Falls.

Hot Dog and Hee Haw, it is a wonderful life and I hope that y’all have a Happy New Year!

The 2011 Hickman County Above the Rim Christmas Invitational Basketball Tournament begins tomorrow (the 28th) and continues on December 29th and 30th at Hickman County High School in Centerville, Tennessee. The Girl’s Tournament Brackets are posted on the HCHS Women’s Basketball web page and the Boy’s Tournament Brackets are posted on the HCHS Men’s Basketball web page. They always put on a great tournament and one can expect a lot of great basketball action during this holiday season.

Wishing everyone a happy holiday season.

Governor Bill Haslam and Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development Commissioner Bill Hagarty released the nine regional strategic plans that outline how regional field staff will lead new state economic development efforts as part of the JOBS4TN initiative.  The Southern Middle Tennessee plan, which Hickman County participated in its development, is ready for download.  For more general information or to view the other eight (8) plans, visit the TN ECD website.

A story about a community that solved a problem rather than throwing up its hands and blaming someone for it.

Keeping a good quality workforce will continue to be a focus for economic development professionals.  One way for high school students to get out of high school prepared for college or the workforce is to be able to score well on the ACT or SAT.  The Hickman County Career Center offers Test Prep workshops occasionally and this article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, “Work and Family Mailbox,” reinforces the importance of preparing for success on the ACT or SAT.