THIS STORY IS PRESENTED IN PART BY DRAKE DENTISTRY

Diane Cox, executive director of the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments, and Michele Burgess, president of the Henderson-Vance County Chamber of Commerce, appeared on WIZS Town Talk Wednesday at 11 a.m.

Cox and Burgess discussed last week’s Focus 20/20, the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments’ Economic Development Summit, held at the McGregor Hall Performing Arts Center in downtown Henderson. Participants included local government representatives, community leaders, business owners and professionals from Vance, Granville, Franklin, Warren and Person counties.

In response to Burgess thanking Kerr-Tar for hosting the summit, Cox responded, “It was a team effort. We were very fortunate to have not only our Kerr-Tar staff but also the economic development directors from the five counties that make up the Kerr-Tar region in addition to the five Chambers of Commerce, so it really was a collaborative effort.

With an agenda arranged into multiple “acts,” playing on the performing arts venue, discussions included the importance of investing in infrastructure, adapting with the times, advancing entrepreneurship and promoting workforce development.

Cox said the segment on workforce development as presented by Dawn Michelle Tucker, Dean of Continuing Education and College & Career Readiness at Vance-Granville Community College, particularly resonated with her.

“We know we have a workforce issue; workforce is an issue nation-wide. With the economy being as strong as it is now, having enough workers, especially skilled workers, is a big issue.

Working with VGCC, the Kerr-Tar Workforce Development Board and the school systems, we are actively trying to address the workforce issue.”

Burgess said President and CEO of NC IDEA Thom Ruhe’s presentation on changing the workforce mindset opened her eyes to the prevailing issue of employee disengagement and how negatively that affects community progress and development.

“He gave some of the following workplace statistics: 35 percent of the workforce is actively engaged – they show up every day, and put in work for the betterment of the company. Fifty-two percent of the workforce is not engaged at all. These are the employees he called ‘TGIF’ers’ (Thank God It’s Friday). Then there is 13 percent of the workforce actively disengaged, who actually cause problems when they show up for work.”

Burgess also discussed another takeaway from the summit, the importance of embracing and attracting young people to a community.

“The younger generation is looking at a community to see what’s there, to see if they have a fun downtown and apartments that cater to a younger mindset. So, they are picking the town, moving to the town and then finding a job. This is different from what we are used to, which is people moving here because of a job transfer.”

Explaining that the trend among the younger generation is to move to small towns close to larger cities with more cultural opportunities, Burgess said Henderson is “on the cusp of all that; we’ve got great potential here.”

On Tuesday’s edition of Town Talk, Henderson Mayor Eddie Ellington discussed his participation and perspective of the summit, including the knowledge shared by keynote speaker Doug Griffiths, author of the bestselling book “13 Ways to Kill Your Community.”

Listing what not to do, as well as measures to right the path, Griffiths presented the following ways to ensure a lack of community growth and prosperity: don’t have quality water, don’t attract business, ignore your youth, deceive yourself about your real needs or values, shop elsewhere, don’t paint, don’t cooperate, live in the past, ignore your seniors, reject everything new, ignore outsiders, become complacent and don’t take responsibility.

“His discussion on failing to embrace people from the outside that have come into the community really stood out to me,” said Ellington. “People that have lived here and seen the ebbs and flows of the economy have a different view than people from the outside that come in, and that’s not a bad thing.”

Explaining that it takes both points of view to grow the economy, Ellington said he believes the positive attitude and commitment to community investment and improvement seen recently by those moving to Henderson can only lead to more positive outcomes for the area.

Please tune in to WIZS 100.1 FM/1450 AM tomorrow as guest Pam Hester, director of Vance County Tourism, wraps-up this week’s discussion on the local economy and the regional economic development summit.

To hear the interview with Cox and Burgess in its entirety, go to WIZS.com and click on the 02/26/20 Town Talk. For Ellington’s interview, click on the 02/25/20 Town Talk.