Mayors invite community members to participate in ‘Forward Initiative’

HENDERSON, Tenn. — Over in Henderson, officials are inviting the public to participate in their ‘Forward Initiative.’

The Forward Initiative is a plan to bring the entire community together to form a shared vision and a strategic plan to try to achieve it. With help from Joe Barker with the Southwest Tennessee Development District, local legislators gathered last week for a training session to build their leadership capacity.

We spoke to Mayor Terry Bell about the importance of having the community join this initiative.

“Something we put together, Mayor Hutcherson and I, to try to bring the community together to get a shared vision. It’s pretty weak if it’s just my vision or his, but when we bring the whole community together, and it’s shared, there’s some ownership in it,” said Mayor Bell.

This initiative will help the community become involved and share their ideas.

“Well, we’re excited with this initiative. It’s an honor to work with both mayors, and the chamber is always, you know, we want positive growth, so we love what Henderson and Chester County is and we want it to stay the same, but we want positive growth,” said Blake Hopper, executive director for the Henderson-Chester County Chamber of Commerce.

This meeting will take place on February 11 at 6 p.m. in the Henderson City Hall building. Mayor Bell explains that the importance of this meeting is to turn these ideas into a reality.

“That’s the end result, to not just have a vision but to have goals and then achieve them with some actions that bring it about,” said Mayor Bell.

This invitation goes out to local elected leaders, business owners, pastors, ministers and all residents within the county and city limits.

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