By LEON HUMPHREY
CARTER COUNTY MAYOR
We are all starting to see some great things happening in Carter County and, for the first time in a very long time, we are seeing evidence of real growth and economic prosperity thanks to the efforts of everyone working together for the greater good. New businesses are moving into the area bringing new jobs with them! Just last week I received a call from the Regional Director of a National Site Selection industry publication who had heard about Carter County’s recent growth and all of our economic development efforts and wanted to help get the word out even more about Carter County. As you can see, the word has already gotten out and Carter County is not going to be America’s best kept secret anymore.
To help ensure that we are ready to share with the world who Carter County is, my office will be visiting with as many of the businesses in Carter County as possible to help showcase them so that future residents and businesses thinking of relocating to Carter County will have a better idea of who we all are. This initiative is in conjunction with the County’s new marketing and corporate attraction video that is being developed by DesignSensory and my office. The businesses will be showcased and featured on the County’s website at http://www.cartercountytn.gov/economic-development/. We have been monitoring who has been visiting the County’s website and are pleased to report that we have had visitors from all over the world checking out our Latest News articles and webpages including People Magazine and the Washington Post just to name a few.
We plan to start contacting businesses later this week to schedule a time to come meet with them in the coming days, weeks and months. We will be visiting with not only the County’s larger businesses and employers but also “Mom and Pop” businesses and even home-based businesses. We want to make sure that not only does the citizens and other businesses in the County, region and state know who each of you are but the entire world. The goal is to develop a dynamic and comprehensive Online Business Directory for Carter County with links to each of the businesses’ own websites or help them at least have a presence on the County’s website if they don’t currently have their own.
It will take time to meet with all the businesses in the County. We anticipate that it will take many months. If you would like to be one of the first businesses that my staff and I meet with, please call my office to set up an appointment. We want to meet you and learn about your business, showcase your business and see what we can do to help you grow your business. Your success is Carter County’s success. Together we are doing great things to help make Carter County a wonderful place to live, work and play!
Please feel free to contact me at mayor@cartercountytn.gov or by phone at 423-542-1801 if you have any questions or if I can be of assistance to you. My office is located at 801 East Elk Avenue, Suite 201, located in the County Courthouse in Elizabethton. I have an open-door policy and everyone is always welcome.