CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – (CLARKSVILLENOW) Jeff Truitt, CEO for the Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council (EDC) was the guest speaker Tuesday at the Kiwanis Club of Clarksville.
Truitt shared details about the community, the workforce, industry and Fort Campbell’s impact on the city and county with Kiwanians.
Truitt shared details on the city and county’s population which now sits at over 200,000. He added that the community is young, active and progressive with 30 being the average age.
When it comes to education, Austin Peay State with close to 11,000 students is the fastest growing university in the state, and the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System has over 35,000 students with 16 schools performing in the top 5 percent of the state.
For the workforce, he showed figures indicating 400 Fort Campbell soldiers end their military careers each month and 47 percent will stay local if what he called ‘attractive employment’ is available. When it comes to workers, the county’s current unemployment rate is at a low 3.8 percent.
Truitt talked about the new Clarksville Commons coming to the old K-Mart site on Madison Street and said about 90 percent of leases have been secured. Nothing has been released about the names of those businesses, but Truitt said he has been told they should be excited about who’s coming out there.
Part of the state’s IMPROVE Act for road funding includes the widening of I-24 from the Kentucky state line to Exit 11. Truitt said the EDC is working hard to get the state to consider adding an Exit 6 which would benefit Tennova Hospital and the nearby industrial park.
Talking about a proposed multi-purpose event center Truitt said due diligence is continuing for funding a project and it’s important to have destination places for people to come here from out of the area and spend money in the community. Truitt was also asked about the number one need for the community.
“I see the number one need in our community right now is increasing our average wage. We’ve got to get some higher paying jobs in our community. We’ve got to do all that we can to increase the wages of our people in Montgomery County,” Truitt said.