Action plans formulated for FCDA
Kristi Brown, project manager of community and economic development for the Tennessee Valley Authority, speaks to Russellville superintendent Don Cox, Franklin County Development Authority assistant director Sherye Price and industrial board member Lesa Williams during a meeting Thursday. | Nathan Strickland/FCT
The Franklin County Development Authority held their second meeting Thursday morning to discuss action plans for moving forward with economic and industrial development in Franklin County.
At the first meeting that was held earlier this year, a group consisting of city and county officials formulated ideas suggesting what sorts of things should be addressed in the future when it comes to economic and industrial development.
During this session, four groups were formed allowing community leaders to brainstorm specific action plans to reinforce ideas from the first meeting.
“It’s not enough to just say these are our priorities and not do anything to get those things accomplished,” said Kristi Brown, project manager of community and economic development for the Tennessee Valley Authority. “We all need to come together and focus our attention to the actions steps that need to be taken in order to perform these ideas.”
A list summarizing ideas from session one were broken down into six categories, including marketing, communication and cooperation, sites and buildings, work force training, funding and projects and programs, and distributed to attendees to come up with some action plans for each section.
When it came time to discuss action plans for the workforce training, superintendent of Russellville city schools Don Cox explained to the group that times have changed and the education field works a lot differently then it did back in the 1960s.
Cox said the state board of education plays a much larger role in schools now and any type of program such as vocational teaching classes will continue to be non-existent unless someone or a community can convince the state board to lift some of their program restrictions in schools.
One of the action plans that spun from that dilemma in the workforce training section that everyone seemed pleased to hear was to establish an advisory group and let that group focus on determining the training skill level and pushing the state education board for vocational programs.
The sites and building category is mainly driven by funding and the FCDA and Sen. Roger Bedford have been working strenuously for several months to secure funds for projects that would help with industrial projects.
This project includes a $1.3 million sewer extension, establishing fully functional industrial sites in Vina and Phil Campbell.
“Are all of these action plans going to get done in one years time, realistically no,” said Brown. “But all the steps that have been drawn up are doable. The catch is that economic development field is no longer a one person job, it now takes a community effort to push forward.”
Brown said she has been all over the Tennessee Valley and everyone runs into a few issues.
“In all the communities I have visited there are people who let their differences stand in the way of progress,” she said. “The only way to eliminate the negativity is to have a few small successes here and there and eventually they will decrease in number.”
Franklin County Development Authority executive director Mitch Mays said these types of meetings really help to press forward with the development of the county.
“I’d like to thank everyone who came to these work sessions and shared their suggestions and ideas to keep moving us forward,” he said. “Working with existing industry and industry prospects, we hope this strategic planning will help us and guide us while continuing to make Franklin County a prosperous place to live and work.”
