State of the Community Series Continues with a Focused Conversation Around Local Education

Posted By: Katie Greene (deleted) Chamber News,

Education is a major component of the High Country’s economic engine. Local educators are not only training the workforce of tomorrow, but these professionals comprise the staffs of two of the three largest employers in our area. The High Country is also the beneficiary of millions of dollars in recurring revenue from our post-secondary population and the campuses that host those students have invested well over $500 million dollars in infrastructure improvements over the last decade.

The Boone Area Chamber of Commerce continues the State of the Community Series, Wednesday, June 30th, from 1-2:30 pm, highlighting local education partners. The series is presented by Blue Ridge Energy and hosted from their Watauga County District Office for this live stream event.

Register for the Event Here

As schools of all scopes and sizes prepare for the upcoming school year, hear the latest surrounding operations plans, new classroom initiatives, workforce training opportunities, and what is to come in the wave of infrastructure investments by these agencies.

To highlight the relationship between our business community and the education sector, a special guest from Watauga County Schools will join us to share the impact of Blue Ridge Energy's Bright Idea Grant.  

“Education is what we do in Watauga County,” said David Jackson, President/CEO of the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce. “From cradle to graduation, the education industry teaches lifelong skills to our children, which seeds the workforce of tomorrow. This industry is also a human resources juggernaut, with hundreds of millions of dollars in annual salaries, investments, and direct business that impacts our area. We’ve all learned lessons in resiliency from this group of professionals over the last 18 months. Now it’s time to learn more about how they all intend to operate and work together moving into the new school year.”

Featured guests include:

  • Dr. Scott Elliott, Superintendent, Watauga County Schools
  • Dr. Lee King, President, Lees-McRae College
  • Randy Ledford, Vice President of Instruction, Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute
  • Dr. Heather Norris, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor, Appalachian State University

This interview-style event will be hosted by Katie Greene, Director of Communications and Marketing for the Boone Area Chamber of Commerce.

  • Participants will have an opportunity to submit questions to be asked as part of each conversation during the session.
  • Registration is open to Chamber members for $5 and future Chamber members for $10.
  • PLEASE NOTE: When registering multiple people, please enter unique email for each participate to ensure they receive their own unique join link.