| EXPANDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES |
One of the issues that continues to be brought to me is the lack of jobs in
the county. With unemployment at levels that I have never seen in my
lifetime, I can understand why this is a concern. Unfortunately the
solutions are not easy and are even more difficult given that many other
areas are in the same difficult position at the same time.
The GOOD NEWS is that we can capture new business and bring it home
to Sequatchie County. The solution is becoming creative about what we
have to offer. Sequatchie county and the people who make up our county
have a lot to offer a potential business or industry, problem is that no one
knows we are here. It takes a proactive approach to recruiting business
and industry. It is no longer enough to go to meetings and trade shows
and simply hand a business card to a representative. Those business
cards go into a stack with hundreds of other business cards and get us no
where, except maybe just wasted time.
Our county and our people are a product in itself, the key is to market it
that way. We need to stand up and tell these companies what we can do
for them, how they will make a profit by coming here. We have the labor,
we have the buildings, we have the roads....what's stopping us?
AND....its not just the large employers that we should be after. The nation
is full of entrepreneurs who get up and are willing to risk everything on a
new business venture, we can help these new companies succeed in ways
that big cities can't. Our government is local, accessible, and with me as
county executive will be willing to help. These may be small companies to
begin with, but small companies grow. When it comes right down to it, if we
recruit a few small companies employing 7-10 people each, all of the
sudden we will be employing a few hundred people.
It all starts with the first step, it starts with the county executive getting out
of the office, out of the county, wearing out a few pair of shoes and not
taking NO for an answer. I have been self employed for 13 years, I have
had ups and downs in business, but the one thing that remains constant is
the fact that I am ALWAYS looking for new work and new opportunities. My
family depends on it, and the people who work for me depend on it too,
and when elected, the county will too.
the county. With unemployment at levels that I have never seen in my
lifetime, I can understand why this is a concern. Unfortunately the
solutions are not easy and are even more difficult given that many other
areas are in the same difficult position at the same time.
The GOOD NEWS is that we can capture new business and bring it home
to Sequatchie County. The solution is becoming creative about what we
have to offer. Sequatchie county and the people who make up our county
have a lot to offer a potential business or industry, problem is that no one
knows we are here. It takes a proactive approach to recruiting business
and industry. It is no longer enough to go to meetings and trade shows
and simply hand a business card to a representative. Those business
cards go into a stack with hundreds of other business cards and get us no
where, except maybe just wasted time.
Our county and our people are a product in itself, the key is to market it
that way. We need to stand up and tell these companies what we can do
for them, how they will make a profit by coming here. We have the labor,
we have the buildings, we have the roads....what's stopping us?
AND....its not just the large employers that we should be after. The nation
is full of entrepreneurs who get up and are willing to risk everything on a
new business venture, we can help these new companies succeed in ways
that big cities can't. Our government is local, accessible, and with me as
county executive will be willing to help. These may be small companies to
begin with, but small companies grow. When it comes right down to it, if we
recruit a few small companies employing 7-10 people each, all of the
sudden we will be employing a few hundred people.
It all starts with the first step, it starts with the county executive getting out
of the office, out of the county, wearing out a few pair of shoes and not
taking NO for an answer. I have been self employed for 13 years, I have
had ups and downs in business, but the one thing that remains constant is
the fact that I am ALWAYS looking for new work and new opportunities. My
family depends on it, and the people who work for me depend on it too,
and when elected, the county will too.
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