For years, area elected officials and other community leaders have preached about the importance of economic development in Guilford County and the need for a lot more of it – and, now, on Thursday, June 27, there will be a “Guilford County Economic Development Summit” that will be a joint meeting of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, the Greensboro City Council, the High Point City Council, economic development officials, area business leaders and more.

The meeting – which will be the first of its kind and is planned to be a once or twice a year occurrence – will be held at Guilford Technical Community College (GTCC) in Colfax.

Greensboro Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Brent Christensen said on Thursday, May 23, that some of the details of the summit are still being worked out, but it should be a good way for all parties attempting to promote area economic development to hear ideas and give ideas and learn of the recent economic development progress in the county.

The two staff leaders of the Guilford County Economic Development Alliance – Christensen and High Point Economic Development Corp. President Loren Hill – are doing much of the planning for the event, which is likely to include a talk from a national business recruitment consultant as well as an update from Christensen and Hill.

Christensen said more details will be coming soon and he added that the plan is for this to be the first of many such summits.

“We felt like we needed to have one once or twice a year so that everybody can get updated at one time,” Christensen said.