GREAT
Meeting Minutes - July 16, 2009
The meeting was held at the
Graham County Schools Healthful Living Center starting at 12:00 noon.
Lunch was provided by Graham County Schools.
A tour of the new facility was provided after the meeting.
The minutes of the meeting held May 21, 2009 were presented and approved.
The agenda was presented and approved.
Committee Reports:
Economic Development,
Business and Industry Claudie
Burchfield
The next GREAT Business
Committee was announced to be held at the Iron Horse Campground on August 13,
2009 at 12 noon.
Education and Workforce
Development Rhonda Anderson
Updates on the senior
downtown revitalization project and the RDA housing project were provided.
Tourism and Mountain
Culture Lynn Shields
Updates on committee
activities were provided.
Revitalization and
Infrastructure Rick Davis
The group was informed of a
meeting to be held with Graham County Commissioners and Bill Tunnell concerning
need for a revitalization plan. DSL
update for Stecoah Valley and Fontana area was provided.
Recreation and Natural
Resources Rick Davis
Updates on committee
activities were provided.
Leadership and Government
Teresa Garland
The Knights of the
Roundtable youth leadership group activities were discussed.
Health and Social
Alicia Parham
Updates on committee
activities were provided.
The financial report was
presented by Lynn Shields and approved.
Paul Worley, Director of
Workforce and Economic Development, discussed various issues facing the western
counties of North Carolina. Various
statistics were provided to document need in the three TCCC counties.
TCCC courses designed to address workforce training were described.
Chip Wood, Manager, with NC Employment Security Commission was
introduced.
Adam Harwood discussed the
need to begin a recycling program in Graham County. A good discussion of ideas and suggestions followed.
It was decided that Adam would work through the GREAT Recreation, Natural
Resources and Water Quality Committee and Education Committee in organizing this
activity.
Josh Carpenter, Graham
County Planner, provided information on a certified community recognition
program offered by Advantage West. He
was interested in getting GREATs support in this endeavor.
Randy Everhart, Stanley
Furniture Human Resources Director, provided information on Stanley Furniture
Robbinsville site and on a forthcoming announcement. He assured members that the information for Graham County
would be good news.
The last session of the
Board Leadership Training focusing on marketing was announced to be held on
August 28, 2009.
The meeting date for the
September Board meeting was changed to September 24, 2008 due to GREAT
participation in the Brushy Fork Annual Institute.
Mike Harwood volunteered to
host the September GREAT meeting at the P & J Headquarters in Robbinsville.
The meeting was adjourned at
1:30 p.m.