Strategic planning for the Mountain West NC CREATE BRIDGES initiative consisted of three full Regional Steering Committee (RSC) sessions, held on October 27, 2021, November 8, 2021, and January 26, 2022. These planning meetings followed a year of primary research conducted through interviews, focus groups, and surveys of a random sample of owners and managers of CREATE sector businesses as well as anonymous surveys of CREATE sector employees. A report of actions taken as part of the CREATE BRIDGES initiative in 2020 and 2021 is available on NC State University’s CREATE BRIDGES web page. The full strategic plan is located here.
The first strategy session focused on strategies designed to strengthen the over 400 CREATE businesses in Jackson, Graham, Swain, and Macon Counties and the Qualla Boundary. The second session brainstormed strategies to develop advancement opportunities for incumbent workers in the CREATE sector. At the third and final full RSC session, stakeholders discussed how Mountain West NC residents might support the CREATE sector there, with particular emphasis on building regional awareness and pride by and among its workforce and its youth.
A monthly update of CREATE BRIDGES strategies are provided below.
March 2023 CREATE BRIDGES Newsletter
March 2022 CREATE BRIDGES Strategy Update
September 2022 CREATE BRIDGES Strategy Update
WCU Student Report on Secret Shopper Research
