On December 15th, Eastern Shore of Virginia residents from varied walks of life met at the Eastern Shore Community College to begin the planning process for the Stronger Economies Together program, an effort that many hope will create economic development for the lower Eastern Shore.
Stronger Economies Together (SET) is a “nationwide initiative that enables communities and counties in rural America to work together in developing and implementing an economic development blueprint for their multi-county region that strategically builds on the current and emerging economic strengths of that region”.
The main thrust is to get rural communities to work together to overcome the isolation that makes economic development increasingly ineffective. By working together as a region, in this case Accomack and Northampton, they can assess their resources and then design and implement plans that build on their assets and comparative economic strengths.
The SET Regional Team consists of individuals from Virginia Tech, the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), USDA-Rural Development.
The regional team is hoping for an effort of collaboration from groups and leaders such as:
Industry and financial leaders
Representatives of faith-based organizations
Entrepreneurs/small business leaders
County Extension Service personnel
State and federal Congressional representatives or staff
Local and regional government representatives
Minority and women-owned business owners
Chamber of Commerce, economic development, and/or tourism organizations
Workforce Development Board representatives from the area
Educational leaders and organizations
Nonprofit, voluntary and civic-minded organizations
Community foundations
Rural cooperatives
If you would like to become involved in the Eastern Shore SET initiative, please contact Curtis Smith at csmith@a-npdc.org or (757) 787-2936 ext.114
Upcoming Meeting Schedule
Date Topic
January 12 Evidence-Based Planning
February 16 Connecting Capitals: Setting Goals & Objectives
March 15 Finalizing the Plan
April 29 & May 3 Implementation
All Sessions are from 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. in the Eastern Shore Community College Workforce Development Building in Melfa. To RSVP for an event, please contact Curtis Smith at csmith@a-npdc.org or (757) 787-2936 ext.114
Learn More: http://a-npdc.org/wordpress/planning-community-development/set/
Session II on January 12, 2016 will cover the topic Evidence-Based Planning. Participants at the January 12 Session will develop a recommendation for various industry clusters to be included in the final SET Plan. The following documents contain instructions for compiling information prior to Session II.
Groups for the next session include the Business & Finance Cluster Group, Information Technology Cluster Group, Defense Cluster Group, Agribusiness Cluster Group, and the Tourism Cluster Group.
What it is, Scrapple, dude! Your extensive and largely complete wit and knowledge of pretty much all worth knowing about…
What's a Knuckle Head, Racist, Homophobe, Sexist, Bigot, or Hater ? Anyone winning an argument with a liberal... Instead of…
There was a sparrow who refused to join his flock which was flying south for the winter. He refused to…
Well, the way I see it is this. When bathrooms by the beach are completed the horses can poop there.
You seem to be the Executive Director of the EKH's. Eastern Shore Knuckle Heads.