During the months of October and November 2000, the Harris County Chamber of Commerce held a series of town hall meetings at five locations in the county; Hamilton, West Point, Pine Mountain, Fortson, and Waverly Hall. This series of meetings known as Harris County 2020 was designed to examine and discuss economic growth and development in the County and provide documented feedback from the citizenry on the their vision for Harris County and the direction Harris County should take in planning for the next twenty years.

Promotion of Harris County 2020 began in early August 2000, with an extensive campaign to notify leaders in business, government and the community, as well as the public at large. The promotion included over 800 personalized mailings, newspaper and television, locally distributed flyers and posters, and announcements at local civic events.

Ms. Susan Peacock, Sr. Community Economic Development Consultant with Oglethorpe Power Corporation’s Economic Development Group, facilitated the sessions on behalf of Troup Electric Membership Corporations. Dr. Becky Champion, 2000 President of the Chamber and Peggy Lyda, Executive Director of the Chamber opened each session with comments on the purpose of Harris County 2020 and the Chambers’ plans for the information obtained. Approximately 200 persons participated in the series.

In each session, the facilitator documented comments made by participants in their response to the following questions regarding Harris County:

What are the strengths of the County?
What are the challenges (weaknesses) of the County?
What are the issues facing the County?
What do you see as a goal for the County?
What would you like to protect?
What industry would you like in the County?
What industry would you not like in the County?

In the documentation process, participants’ comments were classified by subject, i.e., Business Development, Government, Social/Cultural, Transportation, Water/Sewer, Recreation, Education, Natural/Historical Resources, Public Safety/Medical, Housing, and Land Use. Where comments relate to more than one subject, the comment was duplicated under each subject area to which it pertains. Plans are underway to form task forces to address each area.

The following document shows comments of the participants assembled by subject area in response to each question as stated above.