Anson Economic Development Corporation

As Americans, we tend to take the availability of safe, clean drinking water for granted, but water is an extremely important resource, not just for individuals and families, but for industry, as well. As recent drought conditions, both across the country and more locally, have demonstrated, water is literally the lifeblood of our economy. I was working in another community in 2007 when a summer long drought brought the heavily-stressed Catawba River, that community's primary source, to near-crisis level. A series of fall rainstorms alleviated the situation just days before mandatory conservation measures were scheduled to go into place, potentially impacting several industries. Although the planet is about 2/3 water by surface area, freshwater makes up only 3% of that total. Only 1% is stored as groundwater and surface sources, while an additional 2% is locked up in the polar ice caps. Around the world, more than 1.2 billion people struggle daily to find enough water to meet

The U.S. Government officially lists the population of Anson County at 26,948. Many here believe that figure is a slight undercount, but even the most generous accounting puts our population somewhere around 30,000, making Anson the least populated county in the immediate Charlotte metro region. Being somewhat sparsely populated offers residents and businesses real advantages in terms of lower property costs, availability of land, abundance of resources and expedited zoning and permitting, but Anson's differentiating factor is that despite our rural population, we have an effective workforce that is as large as many of our metro neighbors. All of our available industrial properties are within a 30 minute commute of at least 259,000 individuals and offer an effective workforce of at least 68,500. More than 30% of those potential employees have a degree or vocational certificate; workforce figures more typically associated with larger micropolitan or small metro regions. Even more

A couple of weeks ago, I got a call from a man who was interested in buying a local business. He said that he had gone to the bank to try to open a line of credit, but that the bank had asked for more information about the local economy before making a decision. He asked if there was any information I could provide to the bank to get them to support is venture. I told him there are five specific reasons why there has never been a better time to start a business in Anson County: We are about to reverse our declining population figures. Since 1980, Anson County had lost about 5% of its population. This is not ideal, certainly, but compared to other counties in the state that have lost as much as 25% of their population over that time, it’s not all that bad. The better news, though, is that the declining population trend is almost certain to reverse over the next 5 years, when the Monroe Expressway opens up the western part of the county to residential and commercial development. It is