TAZEWELL—The Claiborne County Joint Economic and Community Development Board along with the Claiborne County Chamber of Commerce sponsored a strategic planning workshop last week.

In order to meet the requirements of the Three Star program Claiborne County must have an annual Strategic Economic Development Plan. This workshop was held in order to incorporate the ideas and recommendations of the people of Claiborne County into a plan.

The workshop, led by the county’s Regional Economic Development Specialist Marshall Ramsey, focused on five main areas including planning infrastructure, economic development, community development, education, and leadership. Twenty-two people from around the county with a focus in the selected areas were present at the workshop and provided their recommendations to the plan.

Some of the suggested items to include in the plan were to continue the efforts to beautify Claiborne County by increasing recycling awareness. Also, to decrease the amount of trash disposed of in landfills.

In economic development, opening a Farmer’s Market was discussed. Those present felt a Farmer’s Market would provide a stable outlet for local growers to bring their goods to sell to the community. This would not only provide an income opportunity for the local growers, but it would provide the community with a location to purchase healthy food options in their own county.

Other recommendations included focusing on tourism by increasing awareness of Norris Lake and the natural beauty of Claiborne County.

In education, it was recommended that the county continue to offer higher education through Walter’s State Community College and Lincoln Memorial University. It was also highly recommended that the county develop ways to encourage students to continue on to higher education.

In leadership, recommendations included making training sessions available for local authority figures to give them the opportunity to discuss current issues and ways to deal with those issues.

Dennis Shipley, Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, said there were 22 individuals present at the workshop. Those people represented the county and city governments, local schools, Sheriff’s Office, local health care facilities, Industrial Board and several others.

Shipley noted that the participation in this year’s event was wonderful and he was extremely pleased with the outcome.

The recommendations made at the workshop will be sorted and compiled together in the form of a plan with the help of the county’s Economic Development Specialist. Upon completion the plan will be reviewed by the Claiborne County Commission and either approved or denied.