We just finalized our first Creative Communities workshop here in beautiful Shepherdstown, WV. An impressive group of over 20 local leaders from various categories attended, including the Jefferson County Development Authority, American Public University, Shepherd University, Frontier Communications and many others. Special thanks to Jane Peters, Exec Director of the JCDA for organizing an impressive group.

As with any first-time efforts, we learned a ton. We will be posting meeting notes and lessons learned on createwv.com in the near future, but in the short term I wanted to share just a few observations:

• It is imperative that the rest of West Virginia learn from communities like Shepherdstown that have built a vibrant creative community. For all the talk about how WV regions are very different (and they are), it’s crucial that we take best practices and apply them in relevant ways throughout the state.
• Jefferson County has a separate Gateway New Economy Council dedicated to a regionally integrated plan on New Economy issues. We’ll stay in touch with Lori Rae, the Exec Director, to continue sharing notes on best practices.
• Despite the hyper-growth experienced in the Eastern Panhandle, there are still areas of concern and improvement. Much of the growth has occurred from retirees or commuters from the DC region, which doesn’t always foster a strong connection or desire to invest in the local region. There is a need to better connect Shepherd University and their students to the community with hopes that more of them would stay after college to start businesses or take jobs in the area. Challenges in building regional collaboration keep the area from marketing themselves as a larger whole to tourists and site selection consultants.
• As always, it remains incredibly hard to move from identifying issues to prioritizing to-do’s. That is the next step for the region after having had productive discussions on these critical topics.

Probably the biggest piece of feedback from the group today is related to a need for more local empowerment. Whether it be setting their own teachers’ salaries to stay competitive with neighboring counties in MD or VA, or having more autonomy for Shepherd University, the region feels a strong need to address issues unique to their situation. Current laws, policies and traditions prohibit that kind of autonomy. I can imagine other regions of WV feel the same.

In any case, we’re wrapping many valuable learnings from today’s workshop into the remaining pilot city workshops in Hinton, Parkersburg and Charleston. Thanks to the Shepherdstown/Jefferson County team for being our first guinea pigs….It was a highly valuable discussion and much appreciated.

createwv.typepad.com

Most importantly, the Lost Dog coffee shop is a truly funky place. Stop by if you get a chance.