Leveraging Our Natural Resources

     As the chamber of commerce gears up for this weekend's Riverside Outdoor Recreation Expo (Rexpo) on National Get Outdoors Day it felt appropriate to focus this month's newsletter topic on the role our natural resources play in economic and community development. If anything, we hope to inspire you to think about how you would like to see our community use these assets in a sustainable and responsible way. 

The purpose of the Rexpo this weekend is to showcase what is currently available in our area. It is a reminder to the community of what we have and also a way to draw in surrounding state park visitors. Riverside Park hasn't looked this good in a long time and so Saturday we can celebrate the hard work of dedicated volunteers in bringing it to a revitalized state.

The Economic Development Strategy final report produced by KM Date Community Planning in October 2020 helped identify some of the opportunities we have in enhancing local recreation amenities and developing agritourism (you can find the full report here). 

The chamber is dedicated to being a part of tapping into these unrealized perks of our river, surrounding farmlands, and even our climate. Your membership, along with leveraging our partnerships with GEADC and the RDA, allows us to work towards the goals laid out in the conclusion of the report mentioned above. 

What natural resource opportunities would you like to see us go after?