Moundsville, WV - March 16, 2009:

Renowned Expert to Talk Development in Marshall County on May 14

              Internationally-known community development expert Vaughn Grisham will speak in Marshall County on May 14, thanks to the efforts of the Marshall County Family Resource Network.

              Grisham, a sociology professor at the University of Mississippi, will be making his first appearance in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. He will make three presentations during the day. Each of the events are free and open to the public. They will be held at the Grand Vue Banquet Hall, Grand Vue Park, Moundsville. Refreshments will be provided.

              A breakfast presentation called “What’s the Role of Business/Government Officials” will be held from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.; a luncheon presentation titled “How Professionals Can Boost Community/Economic Development” will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; and a third and final presentation for community members called “Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things” is scheduled from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

              It was Grisham’s success in community development and his inspirational workshops that led to the effort to bring Grisham to Marshall County. Stacie Dei and Kimberli Green of the Marshall County Family Resource Network, as well as Marshall County Commission administrator Betsy Frohnapfel and New Horizon Consulting’s Kara Gray, attended the Brushy Fork Annual Institute in Kentucky where Grisham spoke in September 2008.

              Stacie Dei, executive director of the Marshall County FRN, said that Marshall County has a lot to be proud of and is primed for the future. Grisham’s input, and the dialogue that it fosters among community members, have been helpful to many communities nationwide.

              “This is an important opportunity, a call to action for businesses, agencies and community members to work together to make Marshall County a better place to live and work,” Dei said.

              Grisham is also the director of the McLean Institute for Community Development, a nonprofit agency at Ole Miss. He speaks around the country about how a coalition of public and

private organizations and citizens can spark a community-wide economic development effort. His work has told the story of Tupelo, Miss., how newspaper owner and community member George McLean ignited a movement in the 1930s that transformed a dying cotton town into a diversified economic center.

              For the past 20 years, Grisham has done workshops about community development in more than 30 states and two Canadian provinces. He is an expert in community, economic and leadership development, and conducts training for community/economic development professionals as well as interested members of the community. He has written four books, including “Hand in Hand: Community and Economic Development in Tupelo, A Case Study,” and “Tupelo: The Evolution of a Community.”

               The Marshall County Family Resource Network is a not-for-profit organization that builds community partnerships to make Marshall County a better place to live and work. The FRN’s key efforts focus on substance abuse prevention, health and wellness and community development. It has leveraged more than $2.2 million in state and federal grants to help Marshall County over the past three years. It can be reached at 304-845-3300 or on the Web at marshallcountyfrn.com.

               To register for any of the three presentations, please call the Marshall County Family Resource Network at 304-845-3300 or email marshallcountyfrn@comcast.net. Please specify which presentation you would like to attend.