About 50 people turned out last night for a public forum hosted by the Knox County Area Partnership for Economic Development.
The meeting was designed to be an open dialogue that could give the partnership direction moving forward.
That’s according to Partnership President Ken Springer, who tells WGIL forum attendees produced several good ideas, including three main areas of focus.
“The most popular ones that we’ve seen so far are, as far as response has gone, are to focus on existing businesses here in the community expand,” Springer says. “The second one that was most popular was going outside of the community and bringing businesses in and the one that was the third most popular was helping entrepreneurs start new businesses.”
Springer says he hopes to receive additional responses in a similar way looking ahead.
“I think that you’ll see us in the future,” he says. “We may not do it in the same format, but I think we’re going to be doing some things in the future where we are having regular interaction and a chance for the public to basically weigh in and have a dialogue about economic development. I think it’s important.”
Springer adds that he expects to have a “good, holistic, balanced” economic development program thanks in part to the forum.
