JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – Johnson City, Jonesborough and Washington County mayors came together at the Millenium Center Thursday to discuss current affairs.
The State of the City-County-Town luncheon, presented by Ballad Health, provided updates on the areas’ latest achievements, from education, and tourism, to economic development projects.
Presenters spoke about progress over the last couple of years since the luncheon has been canceled those previous years due to COVID-19.
“Last time we did this was I think 2019,” Washington County Mayor Joe Grandy said. “We’re glad to just have the opportunity to come together.”
Grandy was up to the podium first – highlighting future business expansion in the county, such as Sung Woo and the meat processing facility.
“We had really good news about business recruitment, jobs created,” Grandy said. “Over a thousand jobs created in the last couple of years.”
Jonesborough’s Mayor Chuck Vest, highlighted a new school coming in August 2023, booming tourism and population growth.
“We’ve got to get our streets and our traffic flows correct,” Vest said. “We’ve got to build some new streets to handle the amount of new people coming to Jonesborough.”
Lastly, Johnson City mayor Joe Wise highlighted improvements to infrastructure like the West Walnut Street project and the repurposing of the Ashe Street Courthouse.
“What we’re really trying to do is ensure that key pieces of property and regions of our City are repurposed to their highest and best use and that’s a part of that broader vision for the community,” Wise said.
