It is often said that the youth and young adults of a community are its future.
Young adults are often those community members buying their first house and sending their children to local schools.
Because of this, the Morgan County Economic Development Corp. (EDC) is looking for 30 volunteers under the age of 30 to participate in a roundtable discussion about the past, present and future of the county.
Of those 30 volunteers, the EDC is hoping to get an equal representation of both current and former county residents to give their insights.
Executive Director Mike Dellinger noted the EDC is also hoping to get participants from throughout the county from Morgantown to Eminence and everywhere in between.
The hope is to share the information gathered with county leaders, including both government officials and private-sector business leaders.
One question during the discussion might be why county natives who moved out of the county chose to do so.
“And, if there was a reason why or why not, how we can expound on those types of reasons to perhaps do a little self-examination and ask ourselves, ‘What is it that our own youth, our own young professionals do or do not see here that would or would not benefit them as families that would come back and invest?’” Dellinger said.
Dellinger noted that somebody who is younger than 30 years old will have an impact on their local economy for 40 or more years.
This is the first focus group of its kind that Dellinger can think of that the EDC has put together and noted that there may be other roundtable discussions with different groups in the future.
“As an economic developer professional, I want to ensure that young people, in general, have a chance to point things out that they might not, every day, have a chance to point out,” Dellinger said. “And then hopefully, just to reiterate, it will be something that can be used by both our public and private sectors.”
Dellinger said the idea of “Boomerang Millennials” will be an important part of the discussion.
A Boomerang Millennial is someone who is a native of the county and returns after that individual has received their education.
“How do we get our own young kids to come back after they have flown the nest to go get their education and get their wings and see the world?” Dellinger said. “That is, I think, part of what we are trying to figure out.”
Housing, workforce opportunities and other typical economic development answers, Dellinger said, might be the answer to many of the questions posed to the participants.
Another perspective is that many young adults have young children who are or will soon be in the various education systems in Morgan County.
“We are trying to instigate that thought process and get folks together that are of this demographic, so they can exchange ideas, so we can look at and say, ‘You know, that is something for us to think about,’” Dellinger said. “And then hopefully, a group that will try and move these ideas forward and compel the county.”
Dellinger said the EDC wants to hear first-hand, instead of speculating, what young adults want from the communities they live, work and do business in.
He said anybody who is interested in participating in the roundtable discussions, or if you have questions, can contact the EDC at 317-831-9544 or email him at mdellinger@morgancoed.com or Director of Business Operations LeeDa Allen at leeda@morgancoed.com.
Once there are 30 volunteers, the EDC will reach out to those who have volunteered to start the discussion.