Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014 - Mason County Journal - Page A-21
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EDC to schedule community forums
By LLOYD MULLEN
Iloyd@masoncoun com
Build a business plan, and they will come.
Reid Vasek, development associate, for the Mason
County Economic Development Council (EDC), said
he's expecting to see more business to Mason County.
Or at least, he said, he intends to help the county
build a plan to bring new business.
The EDC has scheduled a kick-off event to explain
its strategic planning process for the county at PUD
3 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 30.
The objective of the event, Vasek said, is to create
public interest in the Community Strategic Plan and
to recruit volunteers to help facilitate focus groups at
what the council calls Asset Mapping meetings.
The purpose of the strategic plan, according to a
release from the EDC, is to address priority concerns
and issues for Mason County citizens at the local
level.
"This community-based approach is the keystone
to involving people, over time, as co-creators and co-
learners in defining the desired outcomes of the com-
munity, discovery and defmition of the issues to be
addressed, and creating and implementing solutions
to the issues of concern," the press release states.
Executive Assisant Jennifer Baria said the goal
isn't to just focus on the county's negative attributes.
"We're going to focus on them and find out how
to make them positive," she said. "There is quite a
negative perspective of Mason County. How do you
engage the citizens to make that a positive, in and
outside of the community? How do we take a nega-
tive and build it into something that can be posi-
tively seen?"
"We want as many people as possible to come to
this event," Vasek said. "During the process, we're
going to try to get a lot of volunteers to help us with
this. They are going to have a chance to help with the
county's future."
Volunteers at the event will facilitate the Asset
Mapping forums.
The EDC plans to hold six community forums
spanning the next few months to cover the Asset
Mapping objectives of identifying and acknowledg-
ing talents and resources available in Mason County
and identifying ways to use community talents and
resources to develop the local economy.
"We're going to stress everything that is going to
help the economy," Vasek said. "We're going to get
as many ideas as possible. After we get the ideas,
Reid Vasek sits at his desk at the Mason County
interview Tuesday.
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Jennifer Baria, executive assistant,
Mason County EDC
we're going to have a meeting to decide how to le-
verage our assets and prioritize them. How to retain
and enhance businesses. We're going to use this as a
Journal photo by Lloyd Mullen
Economic Development Council office during an
guideline to retain and recruit businesses."
Vasek said the EDC plans to have a draft of the
strategic plan done by Dec. 29. After the plan has
been published, Vasek said, the EDC will hold wrap-
up meetings spanning the next 60 days that will be
open for public discussion.
"We are going to come up with the strategic plan
for the county," he said. "We're going to come up with
objectives and find out how the county can reach
those objectives."
Meetings will take place in Belfair, Allyn, Shelton,
Hoodsport and Matlock.
Vasek said he wants to get the word out to the
people of Mason County.
"Do you have any ideas of how to make this great
place even better? Now's your chance," he said.
For more information on Mason County EDC, go to
masonedc.com or call 426-2276.
