The Rural Development Task Force held its first meeting this week to discuss its mission, charge and next steps.
Led by Commissioners Randy Boyd, Department of Economic and Community Development, Julius Johnson, Department of Agriculture, and Kevin Triplett, Department of Tourist Development, the group will focus on aligning public and private resources and offering new strategic initiatives to create transformative, holistic solutions in tourism, agriculture and economic activities throughout the state. With a goal of creating an initial three to four year strategic plan that will include a comprehensive vision for rural development, the team will convene forums, identify and engage stakeholder groups and look to TNECD’s successful ThreeStar program as a way to identify gaps, challenges and opportunities.
At this initial meeting, task force members exchanged information regarding current initiatives and success metrics to identify new opportunities for collaboration and align agency activities to maximize impact in providing assistance to rural communities.
