Our View: Regional cooperation is the key to bringing new jobs to our area

By: Washington County News

When we say we need more economic development, that’s just sort of a bureaucratic way of saying we need more jobs.

It’s kind of like a statement we heard on a TV show recently, where a boss told an employee, “When someone comes into the hardware store looking for a quarter-inch drill bit, what they’re saying isn’t that they need a drill bit. What they’re really saying is that they need a quarter-inch hole.”

And, as anyone involved in economic and community development knows, the goal is to create new jobs (preferably ones that provide living wages) at least as fast as the old jobs are slipping away.

Losing jobs — and not having enough new ones to replace them — will eventually spell death for a community, so it’s not only prudent to focus on job recruitment, it’s an absolute necessity to ensure survival.

And when we engage in economic development activities, sometimes we must put city, county and state borders aside and concentrate on the region as a whole.

That’s the message that about 20 community and business leaders from both of the Bristols; Sullivan County, Tennessee; and Washington County, Virginia, heard last week during a forum at the Bristol Chamber of Commerce. The speaker was Mac Holladay, founder and CEO of Market Street Services, an Atlanta-based economic and community development consulting firm.

To read the full article click here or email Alexia Eanes.

Leaders discuss regional economic development

By David McGee, Bristol Herald Courier

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Successful economic development is blind to invisible boundaries, a consultant told local city and county leaders Tuesday.

Mac Holladay, founder and CEO of Market Street Services, an Atlanta-based economic and community development consulting firm, spoke to a group of about 20 community and business leaders from both Bristols, Sullivan County and Washington County, Virginia, at the Bristol Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s clearly communication and understanding the labor shed knows no boundaries. They don’t care where the city limits are or where the state line is either,” Holladay said after the 90-minute forum. “Neither does the quality of education. Neither does the quality of place because what you want is as many good choices as you can get. You want different places of different sizes to be of quality.”

Holladay said the most attractive areas for businesses have quality education, a prepared workforce and good quality of life. By contrast, he cited rural areas where hospitals have closed, describing those areas as economically “done” because health care is a key, basic consideration. Having no hospital makes it more difficult to attract new employers or families, he added.

He also said everyone involved needs to appreciate when another locality lands a business or industry.


To read the full article click here or email Alexia Eanes.

Bristol Virginia Council Receives Update on Visioning Process

By David McGee, Bristol Herald Courier

BRISTOL, Va. - City leaders received an update on the new Bristol 2040 visioning process unveiled last month by the Bristol Chamber of Commerce.

Alex Pearlstein, vice president of projects for Market Street Services, the Atlanta-based consulting firm managing the project, described the group’s initial steps in developing a long-term vision for both the Twin City and its adjoining counties of Sullivan in Tennessee and Washington in Virginia.

To read the full article click here or email Alexia Eanes.

Bristol-focused economic initiative launches

By Leif Greiss | Bristol Herald Courier

BRISTOL, Tenn. — The Bristol Chamber of Commerce announced an initiative Monday to create a 25-year vision and action plan for the economic and community development of the Twin City.

The Bristol Chamber of Commerce and the Bristol2040 Steering Committee will embark on an eight-month process to create a long-term blueprint for what Bristol and surrounding Sullivan County, Tennessee, and Washington County, Virginia, can and should look a quarter of a century from now. The effort will be in consultation with Market Street Services, an Atlanta-based firm specializing in community and economic development.

To read the full article click here or email Alexia Eanes.