Union College Receives Grant to Fund Community Development Project

Knox County residents will soon have the opportunity to create a stronger community for future generations.

A $284,000 grant from the Teagle Foundation of New York will fund a community development project, which will foster a partnership among the city of Barbourville, Knox County, Union College and The Institute at Mars Hill College. Tentatively called the Kentucky Partners Roundtable, the organization will be led by Edward de Rosset, assistant to the president at Union College. The 24-month partnership and planning initiative will engage members of the community to create a strategic economic development plan for this region.

"Community and college have successfully partnered on several occasions," said de Rosset. "A large part of the College’s vision is to encourage and strengthen partnerships among the communities we serve. Union’s participation in this project will allow us to share our unique resources in the planning phase of this project and expand our educational opportunities to the broader community in the future."

The Institute at Mars Hill works with institutions, organizations and individuals to build strong community relationships. Dan Keith Ray, senior fellow at The Institute, will work with the Barbourville/Knox County community throughout the process of research, brainstorming and implementation. A steering committee of local leaders selected The Institute because of its success with the national award-winning HandMade in America joint planning venture, which structured the $122 million arts and crafts community in Western North Carolina. A group of community and college leaders visited Mars Hill in November 1999 and have since met and agreed that a similar transformation can occur here.

The Institute will work with the community over the next several months, when a task force of community leaders will convene to begin the research phase of this project. The task force will focus on asset-mapping, a process of identifying the community’s strengths and resources. The task force will present its findings at a town meeting.

"We want members of the community to get involved in this project," de Rosset said. "It’s vital to our success that we hear from the folks who live and work in this area. We want to know what you like about Barbourville and Knox County. We want to hear your input. That’s the only way we are going to be successful."

For more information about the Kentucky Partners Roundtable, or to get involved in the project, please contact Edward de Rosset at 546-1610 or via email at derosset@unionky.edu.

August 7, 2000

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