Navasota-Grimes County Chamber previews new county directory and website; Extension reports on summer programs

The Navasota-Grimes County Chamber on June 18 presented a second-quarter update to the Grimes County Commissioners Court, unveiling a redesigned county directory, new website features aimed at economic development and tourism, and a slate of upcoming Chamber events.

Chamber presentation

Lucy Ibarra, executive director of the Navasota-Grimes County Chamber of Commerce, described a magazine-style county directory that will feature expanded tourism and economic-development material, local photography and school-district profiles. The Chamber said the new printed directory will be produced in partnership with local media and will expand the county’s outreach to regional developers.

The Chamber also previewed an economic-development website tool (ZoomProspector integration) that will host interactive maps, workforce comparisons and site-availability data for prospective businesses. The Chamber said the ZoomProspector subscription costs $5,000 annually and the city of Navasota will split that cost 50/50 with the Chamber for city-focused content; the county-focused website will present countywide demographics and developable-site information.

MediYo Street Media

Jacob Saffel of MediYo Street Media, the Chamber’s web design partner, showed a visual-first site design featuring local drone photography and a mobile-friendly site structure to make it easier for local officials and business developers to pull labor-force and site-comparison data when recruiting or responding to inquiries.

Extension office update

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension agents Matthew Pfeiffer, Andrea Ryan and Carla Hayes briefed the court on recent Extension activity:

- Forage and field events: OD Butler Field and Forage Day and other producer events drew local participation; a screw-worm webinar and a free agricultural pesticide-waste collection (July 23) were highlighted. - Youth programming: 4-H and county fair activities remain active; Extension reported strong participation in county senior-day events and fundraising activities supporting 4-H scholarships. - Health, wellness and outreach: Family and community health programs including canning classes, senior-day outreach and a planned mental-health conference (June 25) were announced.

Why it matters

Chamber and Extension officials framed the website and directory changes as tools to improve the county’s competitiveness for economic development and tourism while supporting local producers and youth programs. The ZoomProspector integration and new directory are intended to give officials and prospective developers quick access to labor, demographic and site-specific information.

Provenance (selected transcript evidence)

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- {"block_id":"t=2268.255","local_start":0,"local_end":72,"evidence_excerpt":"This program is at a cost of $5,000 annually. We split that cost $50.50 with the city of Navasota.","reason_code":"topicfinish"}