I am originally from Martin County and very aware of some of the challenges faced by folks living in my former home town. I see many talented and brilliant folks who seldom have an opportunity to contribute their stories, skills and value to the local society.
Martin County can be a very polarized pocket of Appalachia that has a purpose driven hermit like nature. I often find myself asking why Martin County is so lacking in industry beyond the obvious and why so little attention, other than stories of poverty and strife, is paid on the national scale. Why is that only natural disasters and hardship can bring Martin County and Appalachia as a whole to the spotlight? Where is the forum for folks to share and collaborate ideas and discuss what is truly important to them? Why was Martin County Kentucky.com started? Creating answers to those questions is why.
In my opinion one major issue Martin County has is one of marketing. In sales you live and die by the attention you bring to your product and the perception associated to it. Well Martin County certainly has had some bad publicity in my opinion. The other part of the problem is that there is a reoccurring theme that only drives the stigmas and stereo types. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck odds are against it being a zebra. So where do we start when it comes to changing the public view of our little pocket in the mountains?
We start where the cancer originates, the hearts and minds of the very people that have been subject the these labels. Martin County as a community has to break from some of the old habits and reliance on a failed management team to lead them towards greater things. I can tell you as an owner of two small businesses, if my marketing was being handled this way I’d be handing out some pink slips. So let’s start putting some serious scrutiny on the management of our county and their pattern of failure. As tax payers and citizens, Martin Countians have the right and the responsibility to call their leadership – their marketing team – to task.
We can only expect what we inspect, so use this site to discuss the issues and propose solutions. Use this site to shine a light on this wonderful community and the phenomenal people it’s comprised of. Use this site to create a positive marketing message that says Martin County is more than “Mountain Dew Mouths” and “Coal Dusted Hillbillys”. If either of those descriptions anger you then you see the problem we are trying to draw a big red circle around. If you are insulted by those and similar labels then I encourage you to do something about it. Once a problem has a name then it’s too big to ignore.
