Whitehouse EDC workshop frames a focused three-year economic development direction

The Whitehouse Economic Development Council gathered for a strategic planning workshop aimed at producing a focused three-year direction that the EDC, the city and the local chamber can advance together. Sir Charles Parker, the workshop facilitator, said, "Today is not simply an exercise in producing another document," and framed the meeting as a connected decision process.

Parker outlined a sequence of steps for the day — "celebrate," "reality check," "vision," "priorities," and "action" — saying the process would identify where the community wants to go by 2029 and what concrete steps are realistic to achieve results. He emphasized the workshop would capture shared vision, realistic commitments and a practical path for advancing results, then bring a draft back for consideration at a future board meeting.

The session used participant workbooks to surface priorities and a large-group synthesis to align on the most significant developments and enabling conditions. Parker asked attendees to "listen to understand," "challenge ideas and not people," and to preserve off-topic ideas in a parking-lot for later follow-up.