Collaboration builds Community

Would you take a moment to reflect, and imagine your ideal community. What would that look like? Are the streets filled with friends and neighbors out enjoying local restaurants and shopping? Is there visitors from out of town, here to experience what all the hype is about? Is there live music, local art, and a freshness in the air?

How do we achieve that vision? I would say that it is already here! Letcher County has so much to offer and many times, we get so used to what we have, that we stop realizing how great it really is. From the incredible history in Jenkins with the train depot, to the lake which contained one of the earliest hydro-electric dams in the state, if not the country, to Whitesburg with the beautiful art, fun music venues, and local food to rival anything anywhere, then back to Fleming-Neon with such a rich beautiful history and untouched historical beauty that is a story waiting to be told. Then we have things like Bad Branch Falls, Lilley Cornett Woods, Fish Pond Lake, and the majestic Pine Mountain.

What do all of these assets have to do with collaboration? None of these things would be here if it weren’t for collaboration at some level. At Pine Mountain Partnership, the local elected leadership comes together with the PMP team, each month, as one unified body to share ideas, projects, and resources because we all understand that rising tides really do lift all ships and if the water dries, then each ship can no longer sail. We are all in this together.

The business community is coming together across the county and even into neighboring Harlan county to cross-promote one another. Sharing ideas, venting about struggles that only other small business owners understand, and most importantly finding solutions, together.

The takeaway here is this. That perfect community you imagined, it is here, the foundation is here. It just takes a little effort from everyone to take it to the next level. It takes private investment to develop property into beautiful resources like retail and housing or office space, it takes public leadership from our elected officials to maintain our business friendly environment, and it takes you to be a megaphone and talk about the great things Letcher County has to offer.

- Jeffery