Leadership Elk Cameron Explores Economic Development, Environment, & Tourism
- The River 98.9
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
The Community Education Center’s Leadership Elk and Cameron program’s (LEC) monthly session focused on economic development, environment & tourism in April. The day started at Domtar in Johnsonburg with a tour of the facility. Participants learned about the history of the mill and its importance to the global economy and local conservation efforts. After Domtar, they traveled to St. Marys to tour Straub Brewery and hear about how the Brewery benefits many local businesses and is a main tourist destination for visitors to the region. The participants then enjoyed lunch in the Straub Taproom which was sponsored by Domtar. After lunch they headed to the Recycling Center where Bekki Titchner provided the group with some statistics about recycling. The recycling center tour was during open hours so the participants got to see first-hand all the hard work that the volunteers do. One participant stated, “I never knew how much went into recycling and how it really is its own business.”
The afternoon was spent at the CEC. First, the group participated in a group activity titled Your Town, Their Destination. The groups were tasked with creating itineraries for visitors to Elk and Cameron Counties which included a 2-night stay in our area with lodging, places to eat, a site seeing trip and an experience such as a tour, hike, tasting, or activity. The second part of the afternoon was a talk by Eric Wolfe, President & Founder of MEEA & President, Horizon Technologies about economic development in the region. He reiterated that economic development is holistic and includes nearly every topic the LEC class explored this year from tourism to housing to history and education. The group discussed the importance of collaboration among municipalities and community leaders. One participant commented, “We have gotten to meet a lot of very influential people throughout our sessions and I am very grateful for that. As well as the relationships being built between all of us as a class.”
The objectives of Leadership Elk & Cameron are to provide community awareness, facilitate networking and relationship building, and to spark civic readiness to help direct the future of our communities. The Community Education Center is accepting applications for the next class. For more information, please visit www.communityedcenter.com or call the CEC at (814) 781-3437.
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LEC participants visited Domtar.
Back row L to R: Belle Grunenwald, Kate Brock, Ron Hammersley, Emma Coppolo, Emma Schatz, Hunter Stauffer
Front row L to R: Jessica O’Neill, Alex Fleming, Courtney Rieger, Shaylah Smith, Taylor Nelson, Missy Cheatle, Amanda Balon, Amanda Cook, Amy Goode, Danielle Charney, Tiffany Boschert.