SALISBURY — As members of the Growing Rowan marketing team spoke during Monday’s county commissioners meeting, one sentiment rang clear.

Rowan County residents are the county’s worst critics, said the team. Its goal is to change that perception.

“Right now, while we aren’t out there telling our story, other people are telling it for us,” said Paula Dibley, who oversees marketing and new student recruitment at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

Dibley said the story is being told using outdated articles and “suspect news sources” providing “false, negative news.”

“We need to combat the negativity with positivity,” she said. “… We have so much to be positive about. We have so much to be proud of, but we’re just not telling our story. I think it’s time we do.”

Dibley’s fellow presenters laid the groundwork for the untold story: a Rowan County that is united and inviting and full of opportunity and resources.

For the presenters, opportunities and resources include attractions like High Rock Lake, health care, business opportunities and education.

High Rock Lake was a recurring theme throughout the presentation. Called a “hidden gem” by Commissioners Chairman Greg Edds, the lake remains underutilized, according to team members.

Annual events at the lake like the Dragon Boat Festival should draw more people, said Joyce Caron-Mercier, who moved to the lake seven years ago. People just don’t know the resource is there for public, nonresidential use, she said.

She said the county is working together with the lake’s current owners, Cube Hydro, to develop even more public access on Rowan’s side of the lake.

Mikey Wetzel, owner of Go Burrito and a fellow High Rock Lake transplant, said the lake represents something else the county is rife with: business opportunity.

Outside one or two big chain stores, he said, the county has few places to purchase boats for use on the lake. Some give the county darts for this fact, but Wetzel said he sees nothing but opportunity.

In Rowan County, Wetzel sees opportunities for businesses not just in water sports but in entertainment at large: go-karting and indoor trampoline parks, to name a couple.

“There’s much more opportunity here than if you were going to go start a similar type of business down in Charlotte where you’ve already got lots of competition,” said Wetzel.

Other speakers at Monday’s meeting included Dari Caldwell, president of Novant Health Rowan Medical Center, and Mandy Mills, director of career and technical education with Rowan-Salisbury Schools.

Both said Rowan County is a great place to live, learn, work and play. But newcomers often fail to see this over rumors of struggling schools, high crime rates and more.

Novant Health is a growing hub in health care, Caldwell said. The addition of a helicopter puts the hospital at the center of the Novant health care system.

It will continue to grow; it just need help recruiting physicians, nurses and staff in light of poor Rowan County perceptions, Caldwell said.

Mills said many believe Rowan-Salisbury Schools is growing and improving routinely, creating innovative programs to fit future workplace needs.

“Our success is minimized by the public’s lack of understanding of our school system and the county as a whole,” she said.

In the end, the team asked the commissioners to approve $80,000 for an intense and targeted marketing campaign, largely over social media. The campaign would be financed through economic development funds, with the Rowan County Economic Development Commission acting as the fiscal agent.

The commissioners tabled the request until their next meeting, which will be at 3 p.m. March 5, requesting that the team provide a more in-depth budget for the requested $80,000.