Greater than 30 community members gathered in the Little Kanahwa Bus Conference rooms for the first meeting of the Bootstraps Project designed to assist area businesses and community leaders with information and tools to drive their success. Crystal Mersh, President of the 1982 Foundation and Shelia Burch, Director of the Little Kanawha Development Corporation lead the charge by presenting methods of marketing and strategies tailored to four groups of interest.
- Business and Development
- Recreation
- Farm to Table
- Substance Abuse Prevention
Group members then split into the separate areas of focus and determined the values, assets, needs and starting points for projects that could be implemented in Calhoun County. They then debriefed with the ideas and plans that came from their group gatherings.
The business and development group discussed methods of marketing, and through group involvement formed ideas to create revenue and attraction to what they offer as well as the county as a whole.
The recreation group focused much of their time on the Little Kanahwa River and determining ways that the river could be put to greater use for tourism and community.
Farm to Table began the discussion and planning for creating a Pumpkin Patch event for the fall which would provide youth and family activities as well as home grown produce and other merchandise.
Substance abuse prevention shared resources in the county, determined additional needs and discovered that the success rate of Calhoun’s Court program is much higher than the state and national statistics.
Everyone who attended left with a sense of value and purpose for their part in the community. Another meeting will be held in 90 days for deeper discussions and the sharing of the 90 day strategy outcomes that each group formed.
WVRC Radio personality George Allen covered the event live on their Facebook feed which can be viewed for more information.
