Sharon Allen, recently started an economic development steering committee for the Community of Strait Shores. She approached the Strait Shores Council for some seed money for the initiative, and at the February 10th council meeting, her request was approved, for up to a thousand dollars. In March, she reached out to members of the Straight Shores community to meet, to share her ideas, and to hear from others.
“I was very, very pleased to have several individuals come out to the original meeting where I laid out my idea of putting together an organization that was going to work at providing information and resources. Perhaps on how to do a business plan, how to advertise, how to market, a place where people can come to, to get the help they need to just make that one step forward.”
Sharon, whose husband is a fisherman with whom she operates a small seasonal campground in Little Shemogue, knows first-hand many of the challenges of starting and maintaining a business.
“A lot of people will have ideas, but don’t necessarily know what is it that they need to do to move the idea forward and hopefully we can fill that requirement and help people who are either already business owners or people who would like to start a new business, expand their business. We want to be there as a resource.”
Sharon and the committee settled on the name GROW Strait Shores. Grow is an acronym for Gathering Resources, Opportunities, and Work.
“We look at growth as being fundamental for our area. We want to make sure that we have a future for our children and grandchildren.”
Sharon and the GROW committee are committed to the healthy growth of the Strait Shores economy.
“We also wanna be there as a group that promotes the Straight Shores area. We have agriculture; we have fishing; we have tourism opportunities.”
Over the next few months the GROW Committee will be working to create some basic bylaws and to build a Board of Directors out of the current steering committee.
Sharon and the committee are enthusiastic about the next steps. “We hope to, within the very near future, start reaching out to local area businesses and getting their input.”
The next meeting of the committee is set for June 3rd. If you’d like more information about this initiative or would like to know how to get involved, you can reach Sharon and the committee at:
GROWStraitShores@gmail.com
