Southern Appalachian Economic Development Partnership

The Office of Business & Economic Research has partnered with the Douglas Cherokee Economic Authority & the East Tennessee State University to provide economic development services to 8 rural counties in East Tennessee and Southeast Kentucky. In 2001, the Douglas Cherokee Economic Authority received funding from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development for implementing this project. The counties include: Campbell, Claiborne, Grainger, Hancock, Hawkins, Scott, Union, and McCreary. The grant is for a three-year period with focus on the following three initiatives:

Business Retention & Attraction – Includes maintaining an inventory of available resources, training existing manufacturers, targeting & recruiting companies as well as developing promotional materials for the region.

Community Preparedness and Collaboration – Includes organizing and training local & regional committees, coordinating economic development efforts as well as collaborating with existing enterprise communities.

Utilization of Internet for Economic Development – Includes creating & maintaining websites for each county, promoting these websites, responding to enquiries as well as measuring the results of website activities.

Our Office of Business & Economic Research and the Tennessee Economic Development Institute at East Tennessee State University currently have been contracted by the Douglas Cherokee Economic Authority to provide economic development training for selected community leaders in the eight county region.