EDC visits WBPA

(8/19) On Thursday morning August 17th Linda Morgan, President of the Walkersville Economic Development Commission, (EDC) visited with and spoke to the assembled members of the Walkersville Business and Professional Association (WBPA) during their monthly meeting held at the Walkersville Public Library.

Both the EDC and the WBPA find themselves in very similar positions, and are hopeful to leverage the knowledge and resources of the other to aid themselves in their efforts to solidify a purpose, vision, and direction for their respective entity’s.

The WBPA was founded in 2010. It had an early vision of being a smaller, hometown version of a Chamber of Commerce. An organization where any type of business was openly welcomed and the prerequisites for membership were performing some portion of your business in or around the 21793 zip code, and a genuine desire to help the Walkersville business community interconnect and thrive.

Looking back on the WBPA’s first 13 years of existence, some might use the term ‘mixed’ to describe its results. Like most things that are new and different, the organization got some early traction, and its membership grew. Local Businesspeople attended meetings, and many ideas were shared. Unfortunately, like so many other businesses, organizations, or groups of any kind, COVID-19 took its toll. Even now in August of 2023 the organization is working hard to regain its bearings, and attempting to understand how it can best serve this community in a meaningful and productive way.

The EDC has existed within Walkersville Town Government for some time, and has recently been revamped and reintroduced. At it’s core the purpose would be a liaison between the Walkersville business community and the Town. Helping understand needs and gaps amongst the business community, and having some advice on the potential growth of the community.

The EDC and the WBPA find themselves in very similar places. Working hard to find committed membership, and at the same time struggling to establish a recognized ‘Brand’ that the business community and the community at large can recognize, understand, and most importantly, support.

Both groups are tasked with serving a wonderful little town that still hasn’t figured out exactly what it wants to be when it grows up. Will it remain a quaint bedroom community surrounded by pastoral farmlands, or does it pursue bringing more "destination" types of entities to town? Tough questions, and finding the answers, and a consensus around those answers won’t be easy.

The EDC and the WBPA will absolutely need each other’s support and cooperation to obtain their respective highest goods. A prominent theme for both groups is their never-ending search for additional membership and volunteers. The two groups will come together again at a planned mixer on September 18th at 7 p.m. at town hall.