It is appropriate that the Weakley County Chamber of Commerce chose UTM to host a dinner for the Joint Economic Development Board. Every guest speaker mentioned that UTM was one of the county’s treasures.

The event was the first step in a new program from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development that advocates and facilitates a more thoughtful approach to economic development.

This isn’t a new concept; Martin has had an Economic Development Council for years.

We are particularly reminded of Chancellor Dunagan’s comments that “when Weakley County thrives, so do our students.”

The chancellor isn’t one for lip service – he really believes that sentiment, and has repeated it on multiple occasions.

Over the last few years, an effort has been made to unify the city and university through various committees, dinners and summits. While progress has been made from otherwise cold relationships, little evidence comes to mind when looking for substantial change.

We applaud assistant commissioner Baker’s presentation that economic development is more of a county concern, not one of the individual cities. We just hope it did not fall on deaf ears by the Martin contingent present.

One of the key components of the presentation was to urge counties to look at what they have, not what they want. Some say that Martin and Weakley County need an interstate to remain competitive in the region. Others say that we need more manufacturing jobs to rejuvenate our suffering economy.

While these people wish away, we hope some see that Weakley County is blessed to have the university, the diversity it brings and the industry it creates.

The message is simple: tailor what you have to what you want. Rather than attracting manufacturers who must have a nearby interstate, focus on getting that call center for a major company to locate here. Even with the exportation of these jobs overseas, the opportunity still exists for companies looking to expand.

Time will tell if any progress came out of this meeting. We hope that this a step in the right direction.