Strong Partnerships Deliver Sustainable Growth in Maury County, TN 

Maury Alliance

Over the past decade, Maury County has seen significant job growth and diverse capital investment, making it one of the top counties in Tennessee for both categories. As community leaders look to the future, they’re focused on ensuring Maury County also continues to grow as a great place to work, live, play and thrive. 

Advance to Enhance 

One critical shift over the past year has been the transition from a five-year strategic development plan known as Advance Maury to a reimagined approach called Enhance Maury. The Enhance Maury program considers the rapid economic progress the community has made over the last decade in ensuring the next decade makes the community both bigger and better. 

“We’re better off as a community than we were 10 years ago, and we want to be able to say the same thing 10 years from now,” says Wil Evans, president and CEO of the Maury County Chamber & Economic Alliance. 

“As we set out to plan for 2025-2029, we realized that traditional economic development – new jobs and capital investment – may not be the primary direction the community wants to go based on the amount of growth we’ve experienced, so we took a strategic pause to make sure we’re doing what our stakeholders wanted.” 

Now, in addition to encouraging job growth and capital investment, Enhance Maury will prioritize higher wages, diversification of the community’s economic base and projects compatible with Maury’s infrastructure capacities. 

Maury Alliance

ALIGN Maury 

An existing workforce development program that builds the talent pipeline for Maury County employers, ALIGN Maury is becoming an even higher-profile initiative, with a newly dedicated team member who will focus on the program exclusively, says Travis Groth, vice president of economic development for the Maury County Chamber & Economic Alliance. 

“The goal is to elevate and accelerate the ALIGN program to coordinate local workforce development resources to meet employer needs,” Groth says. 

A steering committee that includes local employers, regional education and training programs, and community partners has worked together to set priorities for future phases of the ALIGN Maury program. 

“We have concrete, actionable activities that prepare and connect the local workforce to opportunities with Maury County employers,” Groth says. 

Maury Alliance

Keeping Local Dollars Local 

A direct approach to boosting local businesses, the Local First gift card program encourages gift giving that keeps dollars in Maury County. Gift cards are available in $10 and $25 increments at the Maury Alliance office, and about 70 local businesses participate in the program. 

Over the past decade, the program has grown steadily, and Maury County residents purchased more than $60,000 in local gift cards in 2024. Over the life of the program, about $300,000 has gone to local businesses through the gift card initiative, Evans says. “We’ve seen a big uptick in participation over the last few years,” he says. 

Maury Alliance

Leadership Programs 

Growing a strong leadership pipeline in Maury County has always been a priority, and three programs help ensure that work is ongoing. Leadership Maury connects participants to local decision-makers in sectors including business, government, health, public services and agriculture. Participants hear speakers and participate in activities to help them learn about Maury County and how to positively impact their community. 

Youth Leadership Maury is a similar countywide program for high school juniors designed to foster leadership skills, community development and networking. 

The Wired Mastermind group, launched in 2021 by the Spring Hill Chamber of Commerce and Maury Alliance, connects entrepreneurs and CEOs with like-minded individuals looking for growth opportunities in a peer-to-peer environment. 

Minority-Owned Business Pop-Up

Launched in 2022, business pop-up events for minority-owned businesses are a regular opportunity to showcase entrepreneurs, connect the community and grow networks for every sector of the local economy.

“We want to make sure our services meet the needs of every member of our business community,” Evans says. “When it comes to economic development, our goal is to create a thriving economy that will support the citizens and small business community as the economy grows.”