Why Wall Rocks Series – #1 The People

June 2017

The Wall Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) has been in existence for a little over one year. I have been in my position as the Executive Director for almost two years. Wow. It is amazing how quickly time passes! WEDC has been undergoing a strategic planning process over the last two months. This process can be a lot to take in, but through all the future plans and big goals, the same thought kept popping into my head – Wall really rocks! That is why I am creating a new series in the WEDC newsletter to share not only what WEDC is working on, but also spread the word about why Wall rocks!

First, for those of you who are unfamiliar with WEDC, I will provide a very short background. I, Cheyenne McGriff, was hired as the Economic Development Director for the City of Wall in September 2015. One of my tasks was to create the Wall Economic Development Corporation, which, with the help of the City and my Board of Directors, I accomplished. We work on several projects primarily in the categories of housing, business retention and expansion and community development. That is the short and sweet overview of WEDC!

Ok, back to why Wall rocks.

Wall is filled with fantastic people.

The people in our community are kind, helpful, enthusiastic and generous. For example, just last month community members organized a fundraiser and auction for a little girl who is facing a serious illness. Businesses painted their windows pink and people wore pink clothing to welcome the girl and her family home! There will be another fundraiser for a family facing medical challenges later this month, organized by community members. This community support is truly amazing.

Wall recently completed the Marketing Hometown America program with South Dakota State University Extension. We had over 50 community members show up and participate. These volunteers spent over eight weeks brainstorming ways to improve our community. These individuals dedicated hours of their time to the future of Wall, and this is invaluable.

One of the ideas that came from Marketing Hometown America was to create a Wall drive-in movie theatre. One Wall High School senior, Sierra Wilson, has taken this idea and is working hard to make it a reality! Her passion and work ethic prove that leadership isn’t determined by age or experience. It does prove that people of all ages in Wall are amazing! Another community member is trying to get a Parks and Recreation group off the ground! Wall really rocks!

Wall has forward-thinking leaders who all want to see the community prosper. Wall has dedicated business owners and managers who go above and beyond to provide services and support the community. Wall has dedicated teachers and school staff who provide a quality education for Wall’s students. Wall has fantastic coaches that teach more than sports lessons on the field/court to our young people. Wall has fantastic volunteers who work hard to make our community the best it can be. Wall has so many amazing people in the community that it is difficult to list them all!

WEDC strategic planning – A focus on people

During the WEDC Board of Directors strategic planning sessions, I kept hearing such positive, encouraging phrases. When identifying WEDC’s values, the board discussed how Wall is a great place to raise a family and it is filled with loyal, committed community members. Community diversity is highly valued as well as a great quality education, a safe environment and small town atmosphere. What do all of these things have in common? That’s right – people. The wonderful Wall community has created a safe place to raise a family where children will receive a quality education from dedicated teachers and school staff. The community and law enforcement work hard to keep our community safe. Altogether, we create the small town atmosphere that we love.

The WEDC Board also discussed WEDC’s future plans. How can WEDC empower, encourage and assist our community members to drive community growth and change? We know that because there are so many great people in the community, this will be a worthy and exciting task.

The WEDC Board of Directors has a few final touches to put on the strategic plan and it will be unveiled by the end of July. We are excited to share our plan with the community and get more wonderful people involved!

To sum it all up….

Next time you start to feel like living in a small town isn’t cool or exciting just because we don’t have the businesses the larger cities have, remember the people. Remember the people who live in this community that strive to make it better every single day. Remember that people are one of the reasons Wall rocks!

As always, thank you for being such a great community. It is because of you we have it all in Wall!

For more information, check our our website, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @WallEconomicDev.

Cheyenne McGriff
WEDC Executive Director
(605) 279-2658
walledd@gwtc.net