Utility company representatives speak at chamber breakfast

The Mayfield Graves County Chamber of Commerce hosted a business and industry breakfast for the community leaders of Mayfield, Graves County, and surrounding areas on November 14th. Graves County Economic Development was the sponsor of the event, inviting multiple utility partners for a panel discussion about how utilities and economic development work together and the importance of collaboration.

The participants in the discussion included Karen Jackson-Furman of West Kentucky & Tennessee Telecommunications Cooperative, Ward Morgan of Jackson Purchase Energy Cooperative, Justin McCann from West Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Corporation, Emily Jones from Tennessee Valley Authority Economic Development, Ryan Bates of Atmos Energy, and Graves County Economic Development President Jason Lemle.

The questions and topics of discussions included how utilities work to support communities, promote economic development, industrial recruitment strategy, current obstacles and what the future looks like for growth. Our panelists outlined the current conditions of building capacity and what restraints exist, which include supply chain challenges, construction materials, and permitting. They talked through the current project pipeline which includes capacity and loads far greater than anything we have ever seen before and that this challenge is not local, or regional, but nationwide. Understanding the obstacles placed on our utilities identified how this current climate for growth is challenging, rewarding and demanding.

Economic Development President Lemle touched on the importance the responsiveness of utilities to win Projects.

“We know our utility partners have full time jobs and aren’t required to work with us on project responses, though their support and timeliness means the difference between a win and a loss. Most of the time, we ourselves as economic developers are put on time crunches to meet the turnaround time to submit and it's hard on us. I can’t even begin to comment on how challenging it is for our partners who are working daily for their utility. I am incredibly appreciative of the panelists up here today and their willingness and speed at which they have always worked to support me and Graves County Economic Development”.

The most critical takeaway from this discussion is that we are all in this together, our utilities, community, businesses, cities, and counties. Not one of us can do without the other and that together through strategy and collaboration, we can continue to grow our community. 

We greatly appreciate the support and discussion with our partners and the attendance of so many community leaders and businesses and look forward to next year’s business and industry breakfast. 

Graves County Economic Development began in 1981, becoming the driving force behind expansion and development opportunities in the community. It continues to foster strong relationships with existing businesses and attracts new industry to grow in Graves County. There are 44 industrial businesses in Graves County that employ 2,300 people in the community.