Representatives from nine local governmental bodies and authorities met Wednesday to continue work with the I-75 Corridor Council.

The meeting opened with a review of progress made in 2015 to create this forum for communication and partnering, including highlights of the November Strategic Planning Session.   Reports on two initiatives generated at that session were made to the Council, including: 1) A draft of the Council’s communication plan presented by Jill Bowen, and 2) A detailed map of property which is currently listed for sale (or by owner) in the target Corridor, presented by BJ Walker.

The Council discussed other economic development alliances which are focused on an Interstate highway corridor and which may offer ideas for successful projects to replicate.  Methods of communicating the Council’s goals and activities with residents of Peach and Houston Counties, as well as other potential stakeholders, were also discussed. The group plans to consider a website which can share information with the target audiences.

During the meeting, the group considered several immediate opportunities, like: Interstate exit landscaping, possible funding for projects, and the intent to focus on planned, organized growth in the Corridor.

In November, the Council invested time in a planning retreat to begin to build its vision, mission and goals. The retreat was led by professional facilitators from Georgia EMC, at the request of Flint Energies. Retreat participants focused on building achievable goals.

The Council’s next meeting will be next month in an effort to pursue the strategic goals of seizing the momentum generated last year and making more progress sooner. During that meeting, the Council intends to: 1) Approve the Council’s Vision and Mission Statements, 2) Approve the Council’s Goals and 4) Appoint members to the working Council Subcommittees.

At this first meeting of 2016, the Council adopted a meeting schedule for the entire year, which anticipates a meeting in some form every month like Corridor Council meetings, casual gatherings of local leaders and stakeholders, and working meeting to begin the process of forging a master plan.