In Huntington Vaughn Grisham, a sociology professor and director of the McLean Institute for Community Development at the University of Mississippi, lead a community planning session at Marshall University’s Memorial Student Center that attracted over 60 citizens. The topic? Huntington’s future and how to engage young people in the development of it.

From the Huntington Herald-Dispatch:

Grisham’s stop is the latest installment of an effort to create a long-term plan for Huntington. The city earlier this year received a $50,000 Benedum Foundation grant that has been matched with a financial contribution from First State Bank and in-kind contributions from Marshall University’s Center for Business and Economic Research and Mountainside Media.

The next step is creating a private, nonprofit organization called the Create Huntington Foundation that will capture intellectual and creative capital in Huntington and turn it into economic development, said Ostie Mathisen, vice president of First State Bank.

Earlier that day, the Huntington Area Development Council hosted Create WV for a roundtable discussion on the creative economy and the potential Huntington holds for becoming a vibrant new economy and arts/cultural hub in partnership with Marshall. We plan on holding a Create WV Summit there this summer to add to the conversation and planning.

The people in Huntington are ready to grow…Watch them closely!