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2015-02-02 State of the County i Exhibi oil Book 'jPage ' I i Thank you so much Beth. The honor is truly mine. Welcome everyone to our 2015 New Hanover County State of the Y Y County Address. On behalf of your Board of County Commissioners, I would like to thank you for taking the time tonight to be here or for those of you watching at home, thank you for tuning in to watch your i County government at work. At this time, I'd like to introduce my fellow commissioners with us this evening if you would please stand when I call your name; Vice Chair Beth Dawson, Commissioner Skip Watkins, Commissioner Woody White, and Commissioner Rob Zapple. It is so exciting to be serving with a full board of extremely talented and passionate community servants. Your commissioners make great efforts and sacrifice both in time and energy to serve our community and I invite you to join me in thanking them for everything they do to make New Hanover County a truly special place. [JB lead a round of applause] A I'd like to also recognize other community leaders who have joined us tonight. 1 I 1 :3 Many successes in New Hanover County are the result of the collaboration and commitment of these men and women working side by side with your county leadership. i [Recognize mayors, council members, legislative delegation, and other elected officials. List provided.] Thank you for being here with us tonight and for all you do for the citizens of our county. I would also like to recognize our Clerk to the Board Ms. Teresa Elmore; our County Attorney Ms. Wanda Copley; our County Manager Mr. Chris Coudriet, and a special acknowledgement to the almost 1700 employees of the County; some who are here and some watching us from home. I have had the opportunity to work closely with many of these men and women, and know them to be devoted public servants who strive to serve all of us with care and quality. [Iron Man 3 example] Thank you for what you do. And I would be remiss if I did not thank my family for their continued support during my years as a county commissioner. They give me strength to persevere. [personal thank you Pastor Campell, Dad, Laura and girls] I am so honored to be standing before you this evening for this 2015 State of the County Address in my third term as your New Hanover County Commission Chairman. 1 I'd like to start the county address this evening by taking us back a few years. [*1967 photo on screen] I know what most of you are thinking; that's a lot more than just a few years. ti Well, as most of you know, I moved to New Hanover County in 1967 when I was 1 year old. I show you this photo to illustrate how much can change in one 1 lifetime, and not just mine. Think back to where you were and what life was like for you almost 50 years ago. Our community looked very different then. i In the last years of the 60's and the early 70's, New Hanover County was still largely rural with a population of just over 90 thousand people. In 1969 we celebrated the completion of our Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, 1 our new Memorial Hospital had just been built, and the men and women of our community worked at some our largest employers like General Electric or Corning; new industries that brought with them innovation and put many in our community to work. A lot has changed since these images were taken and these years have passed. We've seen some impressive transition and growth in our community and in our education system from our elementary schools to the university and community college. Many things have changed in the way we travel, do business, and in our perspective on commerce and our overall economic health. Since 1967 we've become connected to the rest of the nation, the world, through technology and innovation that we could never have imagined. Connections that have created great interest in our region from far and wide. We've had our ups; we lived through a housing boom and an economic bubble. And we've had our downs; hit hard by a building moratorium and the great recession. "For when I am weak, then I am strong." In 2011, I was fortunate to be the Chair of the Board when that Board faced a daunting task, a challenge, to chart a new course for the County. And we did just that We set a path and the following year my fellow board members and I moved forward in creating a plan that was innovative, forward thinking and would give clear direction to the County. After a long and thoughtful process, the County's Strategic Plan was adopted in 2012. This plan was the first in many important plans putting into play the key elements the County had identified it needed to sustain, improve and grow the overall quality of life in our community. Through this strategic planning process, we identified three main objectives; superior public health and safety, superior education and workforce, and intelligent growth and economic development. These specific objectives best represent the county's priorities, they define how resources will be used, and measure our effectiveness as leaders. Each objective has carefully identified targets. For superior public health and safety those targets are: To reduce and prevent crime Increase the safety and security of our community and reduce health risks and disease For superior education and workforce, our focus is on Preparing all students to be successful in a 21st century world Enhancing the self-sufficiency of individuals & families and improving community literacy & workforce readiness skills And your county has accomplished significant progress and success in the last objective, which is intelligent growth and economic development with goals of that objective to include: Promote a strong diverse economy& high quality job growth Create and support a vibrant and culturally diverse community that encourages private investment and support a planned environment that enhances community & preserves and protects our natural resources. Economic development was quickly identified as our top priority and working under the directive to create new and better jobs, New Hanover County has made a real investment in our community's business future. Working collaboratively, the City and County made possible some important business opportunities like Castle Branch, GE, and Live Oak expansions and the addition of real jobs to our community payroll. 1 Also working alongside the City of Wilmington and other key community stakeholders like UNCW, Cape Fear Community College, Wilmington Business Development and the Chamber, the county secured the services of an economic development expert and crafted our very first plan to serve as the framework and 'pathway' for our strong economic future. The plan appropriately named 'Pathways to Prosperity' took a hard look at our region and provided us clear feedback and recommendations that sparked an open and exciting dialogue with our city partners. Six recommendations were agreed upon as the priority recommendations and the City and County immediately began to rally around each target with energy, resources and conviction. Those recommendations are 1. Create a three-county marketing alliance with New Hanover, Brunswick, and Pender Counties We're making great headway on this front through the Southeastern Partnership; a successful partnerships between Wilmington Business Development and the Brunswick County Economic Development Commission. 2. Advocate for and develop a realistic and sustainable written incentive policy New Hanover County and the City of Wilmington have reviewed the framework for this important joint document and should be adopting a formal policy by spring designed to incentivize higher numbers of better jobs in targeted sectors. 3. Support new and small businesses Your current county commission board, and boards of past have consistently been champions to encourage and grow our local businesses. 4. Sustainable funding sources to improve the county's economic development infrastructure We're serious about growing our economy and strong wage earning jobs. New Hanover County is currently working on the means to create a dedicated economic development fund to do just that. 5. Rebuild New Hanover County specifically as it pertains to the development of water and sewer infrastructure along the 421 corridor This is an important corridor for economic development and your county government is working in partnership and moving forward to install water and sewer to turn raw land into marketable business sites. 6. And advocate for the continuation of state incentives for film and television. This has been a priority legislative item for us in recent years past and our efforts this year started off even stronger when four of your elected county leaders successfully started the statewide conversation about the direct and indirect value this industry brings to New Hanover County and North Carolina. As you can see, many of these items are well under way since that 2014 meeting and our continued efforts to work collaboratively remains critically important to the success of each of these recommendations and in the efforts to create long term, high quality jobs. It's important to stand united in plan development, but more so in putting those plans to action. Consider the value added to economic development and job creation in continued and successful partnerships with the city and our beach communities. Consider the contribution UNCW and the Cape Fear Community College make in advanced education and workforce training of young men and women as a critical piece to the success of small business and large industry in our region. We have to empower both of our higher education entities to be able to grow to meet and exceed community expectations and needs. We cannot find ourselves behind the curve on education as a community. We must be willing to identify what will make us stronger, more competitive and we must be willing to support it in our actions, our words and our resources. Workforce training, entrepreneurship, incubators, think tanks; these are all current buzzwords and the keys to our economic future. Let's embrace education as our key. Let's start with a new focus in our homes and in our elementary schools. Let's prepare our children for the world, enhance self- sufficiency and improve the skill set of those who will be our future business and community leaders. [Insert a brief example story about watchdogs] :4 I As a county we have made it a priority to provide the necessary services to raise our children to be the stewards of our future. We've worked alongside the New Hanover County School Board in making some tough decisions to make sure we have the adequate, the right, learning environment for our children. We can do it by addressing some of the critical infrastructure needs of our schools in our community. It's a conversation of needs identified by the New Hanover County School Board, and we must be willing to continue that dialogue. II Beyond the bricks and mortar, we've also had the hard discussion about improving services that will benefit our children and families. As a county we need to address: Future health and human service improvements The rate of childhood obesity in our community And continued or improved access to those services that keep our community healthy and safe, like our parks, our effective justice system programs, our continued support of the pretrial release program, a regional drug testing lab and drug and DWI courts. Our community health is an important piece of our success, and as a county we must be willing to make the necessary investments to drive results. a '' We've accomplished some amazing things in the last couple of years: We've made great strides in our beach and inlet maintenance program and projects. The authorization for the Carolina Beach project put to rest some real concerns about putting sand on the beach and the impact to our coastal businesses and our homes. Coordination with Wrightsville Beach, Kure and the City of Wilmington keeps the conversation alive in Raleigh and Washington, a conversation important to our economy and a conversation this region must continue. We implemented a hugely successful household hazardous waste program. In one year's time we've diverted over 156 tons of solid chemical and electronic material and almost 17 and a half thousand gallons of liquid chemical waste from our landfill space and our environment. Landfill space is a precious commodity for our community and continued efforts will be made to optimize the use of this limited resource. We are seeing our building permits rise each day as our unemployment rates in our city, county, our region, are on the decline. 1 1 i 1 New houses, new commercial establishments and new jobs provide revenue for our county and enable us to fund the projects and services • you demand and deserve. 5 1 1 We've achieved an impressive double AAA bond rating and adopted a debt policy that conveys our financial management strength and marketability. Our position in the bond market is driven by this rating • and our ability to borrow money for projects at lower rates shows us to be both long range thinkers and fiscally responsible. [recognize Woody for debt policy leadership; round of applause] 1 And we're moving the bar; we're leading the way in responsive government and providing value for tax payer dollars. As a county we strive to be accountable, innovative, display stewardship, integrity and professionalism. 1 Economic development, education, and the health and safety of our l community; these are our responsibilities as community members and leaders. These are the hard decisions that face each of us as we try to provide the best and brightest environment and future for generations to come. i I I A lot has changed since 1967, and in the blink of an eye our children and their children will be looking back on our actions as they reflect on a community, I am sure, that will change many times as it has since my first days here. 1 I It is our responsibility to lay the ground work for the opportunity, the chance, that New Hanover County will be a successful and joyous place to do business, raise our families, generate some of our fondest memories, and call home. I'm looking forward to the next 50 years to be just as amazing as the last with the best of those years starting right now. It is my honor to be part of this community, this board and to serve as your County Commission Chairman alongside the very capable men and women working to make this county the very best place it can be. Thank you for spending this time with us this evening and as always, thank you for your interest in your County government. Good night and God bless.