Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton Pictured is Council of Governments chairman Paul Pascuzzi speaking during Wednesday night’s stakeholder meeting for Warren Worx held at the Clarendon VFD.

Housing was the primary topic of discussion at a recent Warren Worx stakeholders meeting.

The session, held at the Clarendon VFD, kicked off with a discussion about the stats of the initiative’s branding effort.

Jenny Phillips, marketing director for Warren Worx, said that the branding firm, Truth Collective, was in Warren this week.

She said they wanted to “talk to members of the community and get a sense for what community means to them. Every community might be a little different.”

The tour kicked off Monday in Sugar Grove, Youngsville, Tidioute, Starbrick and the city of Warren.

Tuesday saw a branding workshop at the Warren County Career Center, time in the city of Warren with the consultants meeting on economic development and safety issues.

Phillips said that the people they met with in Tidioute were “shocked that we came, that Warren Worx cared about them.

“I think that speaks volumes about what Warren Worx is about,” she said. “It’s so important that people know that this is a county initiative.”

The consultants were here to gather information and didn’t necessarily reveal their hand.

“They were really good at having a poker face,” John Papalia, senior vice president with the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry, said. “They were very good, even in their questioning, not being overly emotional one way or the other.”

“Every community is very prideful of their area,” Phillips said she observed. “Everyone loves their communities and advocates very strongly for them.”

But she said that those perspectives “have to start slowly merging a little bit” into a county vision.

Four subcommittees have been established – quality of life, community revitalization, marketing and business development – and are meeting outside of the stakeholders meetings.

Each has started to identify project areas of focus for the coming months.

The group discussion on Monday centered on housing, which touches the work of several of the subcommittees.

“I think we can all agree housing is a major issue,” Papalia said.

“This is a committee of action,” he added. “We’re going to get our hands dirty and do the work. We have a lot of wonderful ideas and starting points here to work on.”

Warren Worx meetings – the stakeholders session as well as the executive committee and subcommittees – are open to the public. The next stakeholders meeting is Sept. 11 and will probably be held in Tidioute.

Phillips said that a new website – warrenworx.org – will hopefully be up and running next week.

The general idea behind Warren Worx — to be administered by the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry — is the need to develop a central facilitating entity for initiatives and projects in the county. Warren Worx’ first major assignment would be the development of a county brand that can be used by existing organizations to enhance outreach efforts.