LIMESTONE COUNTY – Limestone County is one of 8 communities taking part in this year’s TVA Economic Development Community Innovation Academy, a program and experience to help economic developers create breakthrough ideas together to better their communities.
Developed by TVA Economic Development and Guillermo Mazier, Founder of Collective Intelligence and VP of Global Innovation for Conway Data Inc., the Academy aids in unlocking the tools, tactics and skills to more effectively and collaboratively solve community problems with the goal of sparking more economic growth and shared community prosperity.
Limestone County’s participation in the TVA Innovation Academy is a collaborative effort with
Academy local representation by the Limestone County Economic Development Association,
Athens Main Street and the Greater Limestone County Chamber of Commerce and a Community Innovation A-Team back in each community. The Limestone County Economic Development Association is the initiative lead.
Over a course of nine months, participating communities are completing community ecosystem maps, performing innovation capacity assessments and engaging in hours of interactive working sessions to identify a critical community challenge and incubating a solution that would solve it and in turn positively affect their local economies.
The Academy will culminate on October 21 in Nashville, TN with a pitch presentation by each participating community outlining an innovative solution to a proposed problem within their community. Teams will be seeking resources (i.e. feedback, introductions, connections, program funding) from the pitch event judges and audience members to strengthen their solution pathway.
Heidi Smith
“TVA’s Community Innovation Academy provides participating Valley communities the opportunity to explore fresh and transformational approaches to competitiveness in the economic development industry,” said Heidi Smith, TVA General Manager, Global Business. “We are proud to partner with the Limestone County Economic Development Association to help prepare the community catalysts for industry disruptors and support innovative solutions to foster economic growth.”
“Cities and their community networks are incredible vectors to solve complex economic development problems. The growing rate of global change and unpredictable business environments present a profound challenge to our ability to plan, manage and grow our communities these days. Companies and talent alike are increasingly looking to locate or grow in communities that welcome change, embrace creativity and build innovative environments. Challenges accelerated by the Covid 19 pandemic like workforce availability, small business readiness, corporate growth/expansion and inequality have grown exponentially more complex.
Bethany Shockney
How communities effectively respond to those challenges requires new thinking, new models and new collaborations. By applying community innovation, we can help places like Limestone County positively impact their long-term economic future,” said Guillermo Mazier, Founder Collective Intelligence and VP Global Innovation at Conway, Inc.
“The Limestone County Economic Development Association is proud to partner with like-minded organizations in our county to go through this rigorous academy so we can better serve our community,” said Limestone County Economic Development Association President & CEO Bethany Shockney. “As we continue throughout this academy, we hope to find solutions to help our county continue to prosper.”
Media Release/Blake Williams Communications
