The New Boston Special Industrial Development Corporation/Community Development Corporation hosted an economic development summit for local businesses at the Three Bostons Museum Thursday.
Several key players in Bowie County economic development attended the one-day summit.
Texas Workforce Solutions, the Northeast Texas Small Business Development Center, the Ark-Tex Council of Governments and Communities Unlimited gave presentations about financial and educational opportunities designed to help attract and retain local talent.
Lee Elliott, SIDC/CDC executive director, said he organized the event to bring the four together with leaders who could benefit from the services they provide which are not being utilized in the area.
“What’s interesting, speaking with the four different agencies, they just stated central and western Bowie County has not really used services because we weren’t real knowledgeable about it,” Elliott said.
“I think the success of today was bringing in Red River, TexAmericas, Hooks, DeKalb and New Boston together. There’s a cross network. We’ve planted seeds out there with all these different organizations that can help,” Elliott added. “It’s neat to see because it’s not just economic development. It’s also community development.”
The summit was a first for New Boston.
Attendees said they were pleased with what they learned and can share.
“This is very informative. More small businesses should be here. There is a lot of information available for ways small businesses can grow,” Justin Reid, Supervisory Contract Specialist at Red River Army Depot.
Kayla Simmons, New Boston Chamber of Commerce president, agreed.
“I was just amazed at the amount of resources and knowledge that we gained in such a short amount of time today,” she said. “Being able to take the information back to our business owners is going to have such a big impact on our community.”
One aspect of the summit was to show how education plays a key component in keeping educated graduates in the region.
“If we don’t look to see what our region needs to upskill these high school students to keep them in Northeast Texas, they’re going to get the skills that we give them and then they’re going to go to Dallas, Austin, somewhere else. They’re going to move away,” said Toni Lindsey, regional development director with ATCOG.
Elliott said Thursday’s summit was the first of quarterly events the SIDC/CDC will host.
“Economic development is regional development. It starts with us holding hands,” Elliott said. “I know it seems not as big, but this was huge today … The future is bright. As I like to keep saying, ‘Come grow with us.’” Simmons said she will encourage businesses with the Chamber to attend relevant presentations.
“These types of things are what the Chamber’s here for, giving the business owners the resources and the connections they need to thrive. It’s good for them, it’s great for our community and we’re very excited about having those,” Simmons said. “There’s a lot of positive energy and momentum right now that we’re capturing and I’m excited to see the future.”
Tribune photos by Susan Lindsey Above, New Boston SIDC/CDC Executive Director Lee Elliott talks to some of the local business leaders that attended the economic summit last Thursday in New Boston. Below, business leaders and innovators from all around Bowie County attended last week’s economic summit hosted at 3 Bostons Museum. Attendees heard from representatives from Texas Workforce Solutions, the Northeast Texas Small Business Development Center, the Ark-Tex Council of Governments and Communities Unlimited.
