By James Yohe
NEDC Executive Director
 
Our first definition of what Community means began with "a unified body of individuals - Unity, sharing common visions,  hopes and desired. These are absolutely vital to any small town, like Nocona."

Unity does not mean absolute agreement on every thought, action or detail. What matters is determining the most vital aspects of our community. Aspects such as quality of life, jobs, education, economic health, new businesses and others should all receive major focus from us all.
 
One main focus of the two NEDC Boards is to help Nocona remain a place where people feel at home. Somewhere where we know our neighbors, visit with friends and share with family. There is no desire to outgrow our sense of community. No headlong rush to become another Frisco, Austin, or Dallas/Fort Worth. NEDC is looking not at size, but at important community aspects like quality of life, jobs, education, and others.

So, where should we start? First should be someplace where we can make a living. There is a need to attract "new" money to Nocona. Unfortunately, America no longer serves as bedrock for manufacturing jobs. We have moved even from a service economy to an experience economy and now people are talking about an innovation economy. Building such a capability though will take committed investment in time and education.

In the meantime, we need to attract outsiders to spend their money in Nocona. In other words, attract tourism dollars to help support our community. Tourism is a pillar of economic survival for small American communities including Nocona. Take Glen Rose, Texas, for example. Their tourism dollars actually provide a larger share of the community income than property taxes! Glen Rose is smaller than Nocona, but they have developed reasons for people to come visit and the community attitude to make even visitors feel at home.

Tourism is not the only answer to Nocona's future, but it does provide opportunity and hope to the community. Tourism requires a reason for people to visit Nocona and an attitude by our community that visitors are welcome and respected.

In future articles, we will talk about some of the efforts underway to help with tourism and jobs in Nocona. If you have any thoughts or visions about Nocona and its economic development, please call me at 940-825-3150.