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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-04-02 Special Meeting NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 33 SPECIAL MEETING, APRIL 2, 2014 PAGE 48 ASSEMBLY The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners met for a Special Meeting on Wednesday, April 2, 2014, at 2:00 p.m. in the Assembly Room of the New Hanover County Courthouse, 24 North Third Street, Wilmington, NC. Members present:Chairman Woody White; Vice-Chair Beth Dawson; Commissioner Jonathan Barfield, Jr.; and Commissioner Thomas Wolfe. Commissioner Brian M. Berger was absent. Staff present: County Attorney Wanda M. Copley; County Manager Chris Coudriet; and Clerk to the Board Sheila L. Schult. City of Wilmington Council members present: Mayor Bill Saffo; Mayor Pro-Tem Margaret Haynes; Council Members Kevin O'Grady; Laura Padgett; and Charlie Rivenbark. Councilmen Neal Anderson and Earl Sheridan were absent. City of Wilmington staff present: City Manager Sterling Cheatham; City Clerk Penny Spicer-Sidbury; and City Attorney William Wolak. Chairman White and Mayor Saffo called their respective Boards to order for the Special Meeting reporting the purpose of the meeting was to receive the Garner Economics, LLC’s Economic Development report Pathways to Prosperity: New Hanover County’s Plan for Jobs and Investment. Chairman White and Mayor Saffo offered comments of welcome and thanks to Mr. Garner and his staff, Steering Committee Co-Chairs Dr. Ted Spring and Dr. Gary Miller as well as to all those that participated in the project. UNC-W Chancellor and Steering Committee Co-Chair Dr. Gary Miller offered comments about the process and recognized the steering committee members that were in attendance. Garner Economics, LLC President Jay Garner and Research Economist Tom Tveidt presented an overview of the history, process and recommendations of the report with highlights as follows:  Project Process:  Discovery:  Assets and challenges assessment of the area  Competitive analysis of New Hanover County; Greenville County, South Carolina; Mobile County, Alabama; North Carolina and the United States  Stakeholder input on the business climate of the County  Published the Competitive Realities Report  Targeting:  Labor analysis  Industry specialization  Cluster analysis  Recommendations:  Executing effectively – organizational  Building a better New Hanover – product improvement  Telling the story – product marketing  Average weekly wage comparison – 2013 second quarter:  New Hanover County - $738; average annual industry comparison earnings $42,289  Greenville County - $796  Mobile County - $804  North Carolina - $808; average annual industry comparison earnings $45,383  United States - $921; average annual industry comparison earnings $51,548  Project Goal – strengthen existing business sectors and identify emerging ones to increase private investment, job creation and wage growth  Project Scoop – questions asked: 1) how competitive is NHC in attracting, growing and retaining companies; 2) what assets does the County have and where is it vulnerable; and 3) what role should the County and other organizations play in increasing the area’s economic competitiveness  Project Governance – a fourteen member steering committee led by UNCW Chancellor Dr. Gary Miller and Cape Fear Community College President Dr. Ted Spring with input from stakeholders from six focus groups with 101 total stakeholders; an electronic survey which had 897 responses; and input augmented team assessments and analysis  What citizens want the County to do:  Create a shared vision for economic development for the City and County and set priorities based on that vision  Find ways to consolidate the City and County government  Look at the larger region  Improve K-12 education and create stronger linkages between schools, higher economic developments, and businesses  Greatly enhance the region’s infrastructure and be more proactive in addressing updates/repairs NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 33 SPECIAL MEETING, APRIL 2, 2014 PAGE 49  Cultivate true leadership both within government and among the corporate and business leaders  Strength – access to markets (location, local SAT scores, availability of technicians and scientists)  Strength – quality of place (availability of housing, cultural activities, medical care, general appearance)  Weakness – economic development (low-level of awareness of community regarding economic development and lack of availability of fully served and attractive industrial sites)  Weakness – access to market (lack of availability of skilled industrial workers, lack of availability of engineering program, lack of availability of manufacturing processes/percent of workforce in manufacturing)  Weakness – government impact (lack of adequate water and sewer lines to industrial sites, local business permitting procedures and costs, zoning policies)  Three main sections of dashboard indicators: 1) demographic and labor dynamics; 2) economic dynamics; and 3) local specialization, competitiveness and growth  Optimal Targets:  Life/Marine Sciences Research and Development  High Value Office Operations  Precision Manufacturing  Aircraft Assembly, Modification and Maintenance  Twenty-one recommendations built on three foundations:  Mitigate negative perceptions of challenges that deter increased investment  Create an environment where high quality companies and talent will want to locate  Assist the County in identifying and marketing to optimal targets to ensure more economic opportunities  Strategy: Execute effectively – build a focused economic development service delivery mechanism for existing and potential businesses in the County and collaborate with other municipal economic development entities to work more seamlessly and present a unified brand to external clients.  Goal/Results: The County is better able to attract the types of industries and talent that will make the New Hanover County/Wilmington area competitive. In doing so, the County will serve as a deal flow catalyst that delivers high-value business services to its constituents  Actions:  Create a County Department of Economic and Community Development  Create a three-county micro-marketing alliance of New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender Counties  Explore the feasibility of consolidated government and/or consolidated services in New Hanover County  Encourage the creation of a political institute to recruit and help train business leaders to serve in public office  Develop and promote a realistic incentive strategy for the County (and City)  Eliminate the Special Use Permit from the County’s permitting process  Modify the Special Use Permit Table of Permitted Uses  Serve as a resource for the area’s small and new business support efforts  Strategy: Build a Better Product – strengthen the County’s assets and develop transformational, game- changing assets and initiatives in key areas that support the County’s desire to attract and grow more high-quality economic activities in the region  Goal/Results: New Hanover County transforms itself from a predominantly tourist and service economy to one that better leverages its economic fundamentals. In doing so, the County will build a business climate and quality of place that attracts the world’s most talented people and companies  Actions:  Encourage the establishment of an Airframe and Power Plant certificate program  Encourage the development of hangar facilities to attract MRO’s and aircraft assembly operations  Develop a real estate portfolio of additional sites for industrial, commercial, and office development  “Rebuild” New Hanover County  Advocate for the creation of a pharmacy school  Facilitate regional efforts to grow the talent pipeline:  Continue to support career academies or pathways  Help create a pathway for seamless credit transfer leading to certificate/degrees  Support career awareness of cluster occupations  Improve graduation rates by promoting entrepreneurship  Provide the public free high-speed internet access throughout New Hanover County  Advocate for sustainable funding for the economic development infrastructure  Strategy: Tell the Story  Tell New Hanover County’s economic development story more effectively to a more targeted audience of potential companies and investors.  Actions:  Support the optimal targets by establishing industry working groups for each of the four focused targets NEW HANOVER COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS BOOK 33 SPECIAL MEETING, APRIL 2, 2014 PAGE 50  Execute a process for lead generation  Develop familiarization events for consultants and companies  Create a cadre of regional ambassadors to extend the region’s brand  New Hanover County’s Leadership will need to:  Facilitate and enable productive dialog to determine the next path for the County’s economic development future  Work proactively to grow the area’s talent pipeline  Advocate for a sustainable funding source to fund needed infrastructure/economic development projects  Mitigate policies and regulations that deter further investment  Brand and market the County and region to targeted business sectors A copy of the Power Point presentation is available for review in the County Manager’s Office and on the County’s website. ADJOURNMENT After a question and answer period, hearing no further discussion, Chairman White and Mayor Saffo thanked everyone for attending and adjourned the Special Meeting at 3:34 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sheila L. Schult Clerk to the Board Please note that the above minutes are not a verbatim record of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners meeting. The entire proceedings are available for review and check-out at all New Hanover County Libraries and on-line at www.nhcgov.com.