BLOUNT COUNTY, Tenn. — Blount County is the second-largest county in East Tennessee. About 140,000 people call the area home. Community leaders are working to attract and keep one specific age group. — people between 21 years old and 40 years old.
Each year, about 2,500 students graduate from schools in Blount County, including high schools and colleges.
Alex Willard works and lives in the county. He is part of the Blount County Young Professionals group and a client adviser for LeConte Wealth Management. At only 28 years old, he said Blount County is where he is planting his roots.
"I came back to Blount County because I saw the opportunities here," Willard said.
Willard is a Maryville College alum. After he graduated from school in 2017, he moved to Atlanta for a short time, but he said Blount County called him back.
Now he works to help other young professionals like him find growth.
"As a young professional, I'm super excited to grow in Blount County but also to raise my family here," he said.
To help the county meet its goals, BCYP is aiming to help target the area's young crowd. Alexa Johns leads the group. She said they are working to elevate the group and establish more connections.
She said the group is focused on attracting and retaining the number of young people who are already living in the area.
One way the county is working to keep young professionals is by making the area more walkable, through its greenways. She said they are also hoping to see more entertainment businesses in the area.
"We want to retain those students that are already here, they are already in our community," Johns said.
She and others are connecting young adults to opportunities where they can grow in Blount County. They work to get college students plugged into the community through jobs and internships before they cross the stage.
"Both Maryville and Pellissippi being right here in our neighborhood is a huge benefit to us, because we have the young people right here, and they are ready," Johns said.
The county is home to two different colleges. More than 1,000 students are enrolled in Maryville College from 30 different states and 25 different countries.
Leaders of the group say that is a key factor for the future of the county.
"They're going to be the future leaders," Johns said. "They're going to be the next CEOs and they're going to be the people making the difference in our community."
With big corporate names like Amazon and Smith & Wesson, the county says opportunities are already here. They said there are about 1,000 jobs open in the county. The challenge is convincing those young professionals to stay.