Manchester Rising

I attended a conference today that was hosted by the local Chamber. It was super informative and they had some very good speakers to keep you engaged.

The day started with the Downtown Movement speaking about their group and the businesses on or near the square.  I am amazed at all the progress this group has made in such a short time. The Manchester square is now a place people want to do business. This group has hosted community dinners, pep rallies, ladies nights out, movie nights, pancake breakfast, community markets, and art exhibits, as well as performers to entertain guest. We are blessed with out of the box thinking folks who are driving folks back to the Manchester Downtown area to shop and eat among pure locals. I love this effort and I am proud it is happening in my town. If you have not shopped or eaten downtown Manchester what in the heck are you waiting for? Too much good happening to keep it contained, I look forward to another year of fun community filled events. 

The focus of the event then changed to our local High School and a group of kids who are doing what we called in my day "co-oping" and going to work and learn skills at Viam in Manchester Industrial Park. The plant manager was very very positive about having these young adults in the plant. Many have moved into other aspect and it truly is helping provide a quality work force for the future in Coffee County. Huge shout out to Dr. McFall and Richard Skipper for developing this plan and setting it into action. This was a fantastic presentation. 

The local Young Professional Group from Coffee County also took time to discuss the movement to connect with the young professionals in our community. These folks are going to do big things for sure and I am excited to watch them help Manchester and Coffee County grow. 

Ryan French also took some time to talk about tourism and the money it brings in. I can not repeat these numbers off the top of my head but it was truly amazing to see the amount of dollars that a simple basketball, baseball or softball tournament can bring into town. The Manchester Tourism group is doing great things to try to encourage more of these events. Every dime these folks bring in is a dime the tax payers do not have to pay for.  New events are coming throughout all of next year. If you hear of an event downtown you should go and support it. 

The keynote speaker was Peter Kageyama. He is an expert and author regarding community development. He was a phenomenal speaker.  What he offered was not expert quick fixes to make your city more functional but a simple thought of care for your city. What a simple thought, Care about your city and Love your city. He gave so many excellent examples of thoughtful ways to bring attention to and make your city better. We need to fully support those that are trying to make Manchester a better place. We have leaders in place on the tourism committee, on the board of Mayor and Alderman, at the Local Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Movement Group to make Manchester an even better place to live and raise a family. 

Because of today I am setting a personal goal to support these groups every chance I get. These folks are caring people that are truly trying to make everyone's quality of life better.  

This was a great event and I am proud live, breathe, sell real estate and raise a family in Manchester Tennessee. 

#2020Rising #OneCoffee #SolditWithSteve