You have the very unique opportunity to help make a difference in Webster County. In the next month there are going to be several meetings of the various areas in which the Webster County Development Council is working.

If you have an interest in any one or more areas, I hope that you will be able to attend the meeting(s). We will be looking at various projects that we will be working on over the months to come. To be successful in making a difference it is going to take more than one person working to get the job done and I hope that you will choose to take an active part.

Community Development

A meeting will be Monday at 6 p.m. in the Depot in Eupora with anyone interested in working on community development. This committee has been responsible for bringing us the very successful Christmas Market. They also were the force behind starting the Spring Garden Show that was held last year for the first time at Wood Institute. The Spring Garden Show has been scheduled for April 29 at Wood Institute and plans are under way for this event.

Those plans will be one of the topics of discussion at the meeting. This committee was also responsible for getting the signage grant to put new "Welcome to Webster County" signs around the county and to get a mural painted depicting the county.

Beautification is another area in which this group is active and affiliation with the Keep America Beautiful program will be a tremendous help in this area. These are just a few of the many things that have been done but there is plenty of room for your ideas and need for help so make plans to come and participate.

Cookbook Committee

Compiling a Webster County Cookbook is a fundraising project that we are undertaking. Help in soliciting and compiling recipes for this book is needed. We hope to have 1,000 recipes from throughout the entire county to include in this cookbook. We are meeting today at 10 .m. in the Depot.

Agri-Business

Individuals working in agriculture will be meeting at 7 p.m. March 30 in the Depot. Whatever area of agriculture that you work in we need you to participate in this meeting.

Agriculture is an extremely important segment of the economy in Webster County and your input is needed.

As the director for the Webster County Development Council, I need to know what it can do to help you. It is my hope that the efforts of this group can help to raise the awareness of the contribution agriculture makes to the economy of Webster County. The Farmer's Market is one project that will help toward that end.

Business and Industry

Whether you are in manufacturing or in retail, this group's purpose is to help you in promoting your business, improving the workforce in the county, assisting existing industry, and recruitment and the development of new business in Webster County.

A meeting of anyone interested in helping in this area will be April 6 at 6 p.m. in the Depot. I need your unique input on what your needs are and how I can help you improve your business or industry. One thing that I need your help with is the development of a "Buy Local" promotion. I hope that you will make plans to attend and help make a difference in this area of our economy.

Infrastructure

A meeting to look at the needs of the county and each municipality for the improvement and future development of the infrastructure in the various areas will be April 10 at 7 p.m. in the Depot.

In-place infrastructure is one of the things that industry looks at when considering where they want to locate and money is available to help with improvements and development of infrastructure. City and county governments can also offer incentives to developers who are willing to put the infrastructure in place. This ends up being a win-win situation.

I hope that representatives from our city and county governments will make a special effort to attend this meeting as well as anyone else interested in the development of infrastructure within the county.

Education

A meeting of the Education Committee will be April 13 at 7 p.m. in the Depot. I would like to encourage the county school administrators, School Board, teachers, PTO and any interested individuals to attend this meeting.

Workforce development is an extremely important issue that industry looks at when considering a location. This is also an issue facing our existing industry. We need to look at what we can as the WCDC to work with the schools to address this issue. This is an area where we can call upon the community college for help as well but we need to have an accurate picture of what is being offered already, where we need to focus more attention and what programs are out there that we can tap into to address this situation.

I hope that you will be sure and mark your calendar with the dates of the upcoming meetings, and plan to attend those in which you have an interest. Working together, we can make a positive difference in Webster County!

Editor's note: Wilson is executive director of the Webster County Development Council. She may be contacted at 258-7835 or webwcdc@bellsouth.net.