The Carroll County Development Association will hold their annual meeting on July 18 at Carrollton Baptist Church.
Pam Lee, Tourism Committee chair, said the annual meeting is the time when all members of the association come together to hear from the different committee chairpersons, so they can get involved in the work of the association.
“We will have a speaker who will give us information that the association can use in future planning,” said Lee. “It is also the time to elect or re-elect directors.”
Angela Curry with the Greenwood-Leflore-Carroll Economic Development Foundation will be the speaker for the 7 p.m. meeting in the disabled accessible East Fellowship Hall of the church, according to a Carroll County Development Association (CCDA) pamphlet and information provided by Lee.
Curry has more than 30 years of economic and community development experience in the public and private sectors. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration from Mississippi Valley State University, a Master of Science degree in Community Development from Delta State University and is a graduate of the Community Development Institute at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway and the Leadership Greenwood and Leadership Mississippi programs, according to the pamphlet.
Curry’s experience on the Southern Economic Development Council and on the Board of the Mississippi Economic Development Council provide experience that will help CCDA members understand economic development in Carroll County, the pamphlet stated.
Lee said the CCDA board consists of 11 elected directors, two from each county beat and one at-large. These elected directors make up the voting board. A representative from each town -- usually the mayor-- and from the board of supervisors are also on the board as non-voting members.
“The CCDA works in the areas of ag and natural resources, community improvement, education, government, industry/business, recreation and tourism. Committee chairmen volunteer or are sometimes drafted. They lead the members who have indicated they want to volunteer in that area. Each member selects three areas they are interested in,” Lee said.
Claude Elam chairs the Agriculture Committee, according to the pamphlet.
“Some prices are improving and holding steady, while others continue to increase. Timber prices have been helped by the opening of the Biewer Lumber Company in Winona,” the pamphlet stated.
Elam also chairs the Recreation Committee.
“2022 recreation numbers seem to be up from last year. The county has completed a new walking track around the perimeter of the fields that is being used,” stated the pamphlet.
Steve Anderson chairs the Community Improvement Committee.
“Over the past two years, over 1,500 food boxes supplied through Covid-19 funding were distributed by CCDA volunteers throughout the county,” stated the pamphlet. “Funding has ended.”
Mary Fluker chairs the Education Committee.
“The purpose of the Education Committee is to support and encourage our students and teachers across the county. Each month, teachers from each school – J. Z. George, Marshall, and Carroll Academy – select students who do well in class so the CCDA can recognize them,” the pamphlet stated.
Stanley “Sugar” Mullins chairs the Government Committee.
“The CCDA Board is looking into the possibility of joining the Appalachian Regional Commission [ARC], an economic development partnership with the federal government and 13 state governments,” the pamphlet stated.
The association currently does not have a chair for the Industry Committee, according to the pamphlet.
The Board of Directors and Committee Chairmen meet at 7:30 a.m. the second Friday of January, March, May, July, September and November alternating between the Carrollton and North Carrollton Town Halls.
In addition to discussing what each committee is doing and projects like the First Responders’ Breakfast and the annual meeting, the mayors and county officials report on their activities, giving the board an understanding of the situation in the towns and the county, according to the pamphlet.
Lee said last year's annual meeting attendance was “down a little, probably still from Covid concerns but was still around 50.”
