Educational Attainment on the rise in Hickman County

Last night, we had some friends over for dinner and stimulating conversation. All of us have graduate degrees so obviously we (and our parents) saw a value in education. As an economic development professional, I see every day the value education and workforce development have for a community and hear from businesses how important labor force skills and trainability are to their success.

Therefore, I was pleased to note this morning a trend found in the most recent data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey. Hickman County’s percentage of 25 and older population with Bachelor Degrees and higher had increased 19.4% since the 2000 U.S. Census!

That said, our numbers of people with post-secondary education are still not a competitive advantage in business attraction. However, we do see our weaknesses, we are working hard to mitigate them, and we are making progress.

For anyone (high school students or adults) who are considering higher education, we (Hickman County Economic & Community Development Association) have a website, www.highereducation.hickmantn.org, that has information to aid your quest. It contains links to information on educational programs from continuing education to online graduate degrees, general information on returning to learning, and financial aid programs.

About Daryl Phillips, CEcD

I am a professional economic developer. I presently work for communities and companies in developing and implementing workforce and economic development solutions as CEO of Phillips Economic Development Solutions (Phi EDS). Prior to September 2017, I was the economic development professional who served a community team of elected officials, business people, community leaders and dedicated stakeholders for economic development in Cheatham County, Tennessee (pop. 39,880) and its four towns. During my five-year tenure, I served the team as Cheatham County grew over 1,700 jobs, turned around population declines at the start of this decade into healthy population growth, increased tourism expenditures 20.3% and local tax revenue from tourism 25.4%, grew sales tax revenue 36%, focused on developing the local workforce and was recognized by SmartAsset as having the 9th highest Incoming Investment Index of all the 95 counties in Tennessee. I am a member of International Economic Development Council, Southern Economic Development Council, Tennessee Economic Development Council and International Council of Shopping Centers. I have earned the designation of Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) from International Economic Development Council (IEDC), the Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) certification from National Development Council and hold a Master of Business Administration from Tennessee Technological University.
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