OAK GROVE, KY (CHRISTIAN COUNTY NOW) – At the Oak Grove City Council meeting, extensive discussion about the possibility of leaving local economic development councils was discussed due to the failure to include the city in growth opportunities.

During the June 17 meeting, Councilwoman Janet Edwards suggested a break between Oak Grove and the Southwestern Kentucky Economic Development Council, along with the Christian County Chamber of Commerce. Edwards, along with many of the other city councilmembers, suggested that these groups could be doing more to promote Oak Grove economically.

The topic was first discussed on June 11 during the Oak Grove Economic Development Council meeting, where they considered that being part of these groups was not worth the cost. Being a member of the Christian County Chamber of Commerce is $285 a year, while the Southwestern Kentucky Economic Development Council is $11,000 a year.

“The committee actually met with a couple representatives from those two entities, they kind of told us what they do for the city, which the biggest thing that they do for the city of Oak Grove is that they advocate for mostly roads and for development for Christian County as a whole,” said Edwards. “Our question was, what have they done for Oak Grove individually?”

According to Edwards, Taylor Hayes with the Christian County Chamber of Commerce admitted that they could be doing more to support the city. Carter Hendrix with the Southwestern Kentucky Economic Development Council was not present at the meeting, but had a representative speaking on his behalf that also said they could be doing better work for Oak Grove.

“Right now, Oak Grove is not primed for industry. We don’t have the infrastructure; we don’t have the locations right now. So, we haven’t been getting a lot of representation from Southwestern Kentucky (EDC),” said Edwards.

Overall, the council agreed to stick with both entities for another year, making sure to push them to support Oak Grove’s development going forward. Mayor Jackie Oliver said, “So, I think that once they realized that retail could possibly be their next thing, I think we have to give them an option to at least try. Just prove us wrong.”

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