Restaurants in Downtown

In an article in today's Kingsport Times News, Sharon Caskey Hayes discusses the importance of restaurants in downtowns. Several new restaurants have opened recently in downtown Kingsport. According to Lisa Childress, executive director of the Downtown Kingsport Association, said a growing restaurant sector is a sign of a strong downtown.
"Restaurants are the leading traffic generators for downtowns, and they are common in successful downtowns," Childress said.

Also, check further down in the article where they interview a friend of mine that I grew up with in Appalachia, Tom Keller, owner of TK's Big Dogs. Tom started out with a hot dog cart and after successfully testing the market, moved into a permanent location. After that he started hosting weekly "jammin" sessions which led to the beginning to a summer concert series. Another lesson we can learn and utilize as we take advantage of our location upon The Crooked Road, Virginia's Heritage Music Trail.

Movie Website Update

The movie website continues to generate a large amount of traffic. Here are the stats for the last two months:

January 2409
February 1760

I am getting ready to do some redesign on the website since the General Assembly is over. I am trying to get new information up there, so if you know something about the movie, email me and make sure I know it too. Thanks!

Tupelo Scores Again

In today's Richmond Times Dispatch, it was reported that Tupelo, Mississippi will be the home of it's newest U.S. manufacturing plant which will be dedicated to the manufacture of the Highlander SUV.

The $1.3 million facility (similar in capital outlay as the Dominion Power plant project being planned for Virginia City) will be constructed on a 1,700 acre site.

Both Tennessee and Arkansas were in contention and further down the list was Virginia (somewhere within the Roanoke Valley).

I'm anxious to talk to Vaughn Grisham to understand the dynamics of Toyota's decision and how Tupelo rose to the challenge.

Community Development in Gwinnett Co, Georgia

Attached is a recent article featuring bold economic development activities in Gwinnette County, Georgia. The article describes how Gwinnett plans to launch a five-year economic and community development plan to create over 65,400 new jobs the Gwinnett Chamber plans to implement. Partnership Gwinnett plans to create more than 65,400 new jobs and $5.8 billion in net new wealth over next five years.

This is certainly a much larger initiative that The Gap Partnership, but I think it describes what is possible with vision, a "do-able" strategy and resources to support the initiative.

Wellness Center Letters of Support

We need letters of support for a VTSF grant to do a feasibility study for our Community Wellness Center. If you or your agency/company would be willing to do one, please send me an email at nbailey@frontierhealth.org. I'll send the information about who to write and what needs to be included in the letter. Thanks in advance.
Nancy

Blog Training

We were able to get some "blog training" in today, in spite of the weather. We were small in numbers, but Barbara Polly, Tony Palubicki and Ray Moore were attentive students. Thanks guys for your interest in this important communications tool!

Performing Arts

We are in the process of meeting with Thompson & Litton to review designs for the new Performing Arts Center. When we are notified by T-L, we will schedule a meeting for the committee to review.