Tonight, August 10, 2009 a follow up discussion was held regarding economic development in Monroe City. As was discussed in the town hall forum last week, several main areas of work are needed.
1. Developing an entrepreneur and (existing and new) small business resource center.
2. Compiling a community wide asset list.
3. Exploring development opportunities at Mark Twain Lake.
4. Marketing and advertising our community and assets.
5. Recruiting new business to town.
Approximately 30 people attended tonight's meeting and joined one of three committees to address the above topics and develop specific actions to move forward.
If you were not there, but have any interest or insight and would like to contribute to your community's future, please watch this blog for future meetings, or email me personally at neal.minor@hrhonline.org and I will put you in touch with the committee chair.
Progress is certainly slow and feels a lot like baby steps, but we refuse to go down without a fight. In the future, we want to be able to tell our children and grandchildren that we did everything we could to rebuild and preserve their hometown.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
The rebuilding has begun
On August 4th, 2009 the citizens of Monroe City, MO met to discuss the future of our community. The meeting was diverse and the ideas broad on what direction our town should take. Certainly, there is no one path that will rebuild this once thriving and still proud community.
Our days as the die-casting capital of North America may very well be coming to an end. However, there is still some hope that we can preserve a small portion of the nearly 2,000 die-casting jobs that Diemakers and Khulmans were once responsible for. That fate, we are sure, is mostly out of our hands.
What we know for certain is that collectively we have the brain power, ambition and motivation to save ourselves. But, it's going to take a community effort. Who's going to be there to assist that young entreprenuer while they turn their idea into a viable business? Who's going to ensure that recreational opportunities exist for both current citizens and newcomers? Who's going to keep our town beautiful and visually appealing? Who's going to reach out to the next generation of business owners and community leaders?
We will! And if we think that someone else is going to step in and throw us a lifeline then we've already accepted our current reality as our fate.
The showing at the town-hall forum on the 4th was promising. I ask that everyone who attended stay involved and at the next meeting, bring a guest.
Our days as the die-casting capital of North America may very well be coming to an end. However, there is still some hope that we can preserve a small portion of the nearly 2,000 die-casting jobs that Diemakers and Khulmans were once responsible for. That fate, we are sure, is mostly out of our hands.
What we know for certain is that collectively we have the brain power, ambition and motivation to save ourselves. But, it's going to take a community effort. Who's going to be there to assist that young entreprenuer while they turn their idea into a viable business? Who's going to ensure that recreational opportunities exist for both current citizens and newcomers? Who's going to keep our town beautiful and visually appealing? Who's going to reach out to the next generation of business owners and community leaders?
We will! And if we think that someone else is going to step in and throw us a lifeline then we've already accepted our current reality as our fate.
The showing at the town-hall forum on the 4th was promising. I ask that everyone who attended stay involved and at the next meeting, bring a guest.
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