A perspective on Ohio’s Hill Country by Debbie Phillips, Representative 92nd District (continued)
And sadly, we sometimes listen to them, and begin to feel hopeless about the challenges we face. But if we take the time to learn about and remember the bravery, generosity, and kindness of the people who live here, it can help us re-connect with that great southern Ohio can-do spirit. Pride in our heritage can help us maintain a sense of community, and the strength to cope with the challenges of today. We’ve seen tough times, and helped each other through them. And we can do it again!
Preserving our heritage can also improve our quality of life. We have wonderful resources in southeastern Ohio: the Hocking Hills, the Ohio River, the opera houses, the festivals, innovative people, colleges and universities, and the beauty of the hills.
By protecting those assets that make Ohio’s Hill Country unique, we’re protecting what we love about our daily lives. Whether it’s driving along a ridge-runner road in Morgan County, or filling up a shopping bag with great food from the farmers market, we have everyday joys that are worth protecting.
And those assets can also be a real source of economic development, if we work together as a region. People come from all over to enjoy the cultural and natural riches of Ohio’s Hill Country. With improved broadband access, we can help people who are looking for that balance of economic opportunity and a high quality of life.
Visitors enjoy their trips to the region, and their tourism dollars make a healthy contribution to our local economies. Many of those visitors yearn for the kind of communities we have the good fortune to live in. If we protect the things that make southeastern Ohio special, we can build a sustainable economy that will enable our children to stay in the area, if they choose.
We have seen the impacts of boom-and-bust economic cycles. Those of us who care about our heritage also need to absorb the lessons our history teaches. If we want to see long-term prosperity for our region, we have to work together to promote a kind of development that represents a real investment in our community.
Economic development strategies are ever-evolving. Many economic development professionals are getting interested in looking at an area’s strengths, and developing industry clusters around them. Tourism is one of the strengths of our region. With an increased interest in eco-tourism, agricultural tourism, and heritage tourism, we have plenty of assets to leverage.
If we collaborate to protect the heritage of our region, we’ll reap significant benefits. We will deepen our sense of pride in our communities. We will recognize the blessings we share to live in such a beautiful and interesting part of Ohio. And, we will help to strengthen our regional economy so that our children have the choice to raise their families here, and carry on these honorable traditions.