Regional partnerships. This issue has been a hot topic around the Tri-Cities region in the past year. From the consolidation of Mountain States and Wellmont into Ballad, to the meetings between Washington County and Sullivan County Commissions, to the talks between the three big Chambers of Commerce in the region, regional partnerships and regionalism have been at the forefront of our news.
But what about some of the outlying areas, like Elizabethton, Roan Mountain, Erwin, Greeneville, Abingdon, and Gate City? While it’s great that Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol want to work together, why should we participate? Well, the answer is simple — we have resources that Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol don’t (and would love to have) and we can harness their efforts to help bring success to our communities with those resources.
Just in the Carter, Unicoi, and Washington County economic development partnership with NeTREP, we have realized the amazing natural resources and uniqueness that Carter and Unicoi counties bring to Washington County. From a tourism and workforce recruitment perspective, the breweries downtown, the shopping opportunities, historic downtown of Jonesborough, and the future Tannery Knobs Bike Park in Johnson City are nice, but don’t come anywhere close to the stunning beauty of Watauga and Wilbur Lake, the awe-inspiring views from Roan Mountain, the Beauty Spot, and the Pinnacle Mountain Fire Tower, the fun of floating or rafting down the Nolichucky or Watauga River, the relaxation of fly-fishing on the Doe River, or the grandeur of Red Fork Falls, Laurel Falls, or Twisting Falls. This is our asset. This is our identity. This is what we can offer the world that Johnson City, Kingsport, or Bristol cannot.
By working together, we bring all our resources together with Unicoi, Washington, and the rest of the counties in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia to attract more people to visit and move here. For the future of Elizabethton and Carter County, this is critical as our population continues to decline (as is the case in most other counties in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia).
I think it’s also important to realize that not everyone wants to live in a city. Would you rather enroll your child in a high school with 2,200 students or 800 students both having similar ACT scores, graduation rates, and post-secondary enrollment rates? Elizabethton, Erwin, and Abingdon all offer a small-town way of life where you run into your child’s teacher at the grocery store or you know your banker by their first name, with the convenience of a larger city near-by for special runs or even employment. And the charm of our smaller communities and their respective downtowns don’t compare to Johnson City, Kingsport, or Bristol.
At the end of the day we already are a region and we can either choose to work together to benefit us all or fight it to our own detriment. Look around the southeast at the success of other regional efforts and evaluate how the last 10 years have worked out for us. Let’s own our uniqueness, embrace our identity, and offer it at the regional table so that as the collective pie grows, so does our slice. Let’s talk about it!
(Jon Hartman is Director of Planning & Economic Development for the City of Elizabethton. He can be contacted at 542-1503 or by email at JHartman@CityofElizabethton.org)