We’ve all heard the story of how individual sticks can be broken easily but when they’re all bundled together even the strongest man can’t snap them in half. That same idea of strength through cooperation and working together was one of the themes of a recent economic development conference in which all the Mid- and South Jefferson County cities heard that forming regional partnerships can drive economic development for the entire area.
Karl Segura, manager of business development with Entergy-Texas, lauded area leaders for working together as a team. His comments were echoed by Jessica Hill, vice president of economic development with the Regional Economic Initiative, as she stressed the importance of marketing a region as a community. “We pool our resources so we can do bigger things,” she said.
Each of the cities in Mid- and South County have strengths that can complement the weaknesses of others. Cooperation in economic development is only one way the four cities can work together. Pooling resources also boosts our political clout to get the necessary funding for federal projects like the deepening of the Sabine-Neches Waterway or state projects like funding for the Lamar campuses.
We are all in this corner of Texas together and if we work together we can multiply our strengths to help bring new jobs and new infrastructure to our area. That benefits us all.