types of career fields. So, now we’re more focused on that type of education and helping students identify their passion for what they want to do in the future.” THE PROMISE OF BROADBAND Yet another aspect of Greeneville’s virtuous cycle is the coming introduction of broadband fiber. “Our power company is the Greeneville Energy Authority,” says Smith. “They recently transitioned their corporate structure to allow them to get into the fiber business, and they’re employing fiber throughout the town of Greeneville with the ultimate goal of providing fiber throughout Greene County, which, if you look at the size of our county, is a big undertaking. And that’s become very critical for us. If you’ve got a job where you can work via a fiber network, Greeneville becomes very attractive because we do have a strong school system, we do have low taxes, we do have short commute times, and we do have wonderful outdoor opportunities. That’s some of the growth we’ve seen over the last few years – folks tapping into the fiber economy. And we’re the best place to do it.” CONFRONTING THE CHALLENGES OF GROWTH Smith admits that Greeneville’s growth is not without issues. A growing population means more traffic, a strain on public services, and the need for more and better infrastructure. “Our growth comes with challenges,” he muses. “We’re progressing into a ‘grown-up’ town. But how do we keep Greeneville, Greeneville? How do we keep those aspects of our community that are attractive?” Morrison, too, is cognizant of the challenges that come with growth.“We want to manage growth, but also look to the future as we evolve as a community,” he states. “We’ve got a lot of spinning plates that we want to see come to successful fruition. We want to put our best foot forward, but not stumble in our rush to see more of what we’ve started, like continuing the phases of our downtown revitalization because that injected a great deal of enthusiasm into the 9 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 05, ISSUE 10 GREENEVILLE, TN
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI5MjAx