So, we're in the final days of 2017 and you've been on the job for 15 months; what are your general impressions of Anson County?
I came into the job with few preconceived notions. Although I'd driven through here a few times on my way to the coast and actually had some business with the then Coffing Hoist back in the late 90's, it was pretty much a blank slate. The thing that stood out to me and still does is how welcoming the people here have been. Everyone's just been fantastic to work with. From an economic development standpoint, I have been pleasantly surprised by how much structure was in place. I was tasked with building AnsonEDP from the ground up and was prepared to start from nothing, but found that some key pieces were already in place, they had just never been connected in any strategic way.
What kinds of pieces?
The best example is the Wadesboro Industrial Park. I knew that one of my first challenges would be developing "product," sites and buildings that we could market to companies looking to relocate in the region. I was thrilled to find that a lot of the legwork for the Wadesboro park had been done the previous summer with a site readiness study. That meant I could start marketing that site immediately. I really didn't expect to be able to submit sites for consideration on projects until mid-2017, but the work that had already been done allowed us to get into the game much faster. I have to recognize the Wadesboro Town Council and especially Town Manager Alex Sewell for having the foresight to get that ball rolling.
Tell us more about how these projects work; where do they come from and how do you learn about them?
Projects are generated when a company decides they want to locate or expand in a certain geographic area. It can be an existing industry or a company from another state or another country. In the case of an existing industry, the company usually, but not always, contacts the local economic development office directly. Inquiries from companies looking to locate in a new area generally come to us through either the EDPNC, the state-level economic development group, or the NCSE, the regional group for the southeastern part of North Carolina.
So companies outside the area don't contact you directly?
Not generally. It happens, but it is very unusual. Think about it. If you are a company based in, say, Ohio and you are thinking about locating a plant in the southeastern U.S., are you going to contact every economic development organization in five or six states, probably 500 or so, or are you going to call the state economic development offices for those states and work with a single point of contact. The exception would be if a company wants to be in a very specifically defined geographic area for competitive or supply chain reasons. Then they might target just a couple of counties and work directly with those offices.
Before coming to Anson County, you were the economic development director for the City of Statesville for 10 years. How does Anson County compare to Statesville?
If you look at the population and demographics of Statesville and Anson County, they are almost identical, but there are some key differences. Statesville is a small city with a fairly compact downtown core, whereas Anson County is more spread out. Statesville is a little further along in terms of product development and industry recruitment, but they've had a very effective economic development program there for more than 20 years and we're just getting started here in Anson.
Which begs the question, why is Anson County just getting started?
I don't know the answer to that. The people I have worked with here have all been very committed to economic development and moving forward. The county commissioners, the town councils; I have not run into any sort of significant road block that would lead me to think there is a lack of desire on their part. I think it may simply have been a case of them not getting the right advice about how to make things happen. One possible issue is that the county did not have the resources to hire the sort of experienced director they needed to take the net step. That's where AnsonEDP comes in. As a public-private partnership, we are able to leverage the strengths of both sectors in terms of funding and operational flexibility.
You mention funding and the partnership between the public and private sectors. How does that work?
AnsonEDP is the operational "arm" of the Anson Economic Development Corporation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. As a 501c3, the corporation is able to raise private-sector funding to supplement the contribution of the county and the municipalities. Right now, that mix is about 75-25 public to private, but we hope to eventually get it closer to 50-50. We've been talking to local businesses about investing in what we are doing and the response has been positive, but guarded. Companies want to see more positive movement before going all-in, and I can understand and respect that. But I'm also going to hold them to it. We will make progress and we will have successes and when we do, I expect those businesses to step up to the plate.
Along those lines what successes have you had in 2017?
When I interviewed for this job, I made one thing very clear; there are no easy fixes or shortcuts in economic development. Getting Anson County on the right track is a three-year process. The first year, the one we just completed, is about building a solid foundation and letting people -- primarily our contacts in Raleigh and the site selection community -- know that we are back in the business of economic development in a serious way. I believed we might get a small win or two, and we have, but the real measure of success for 2017 is whether the decision-makers and influencers are taking Anson County seriously as a possible location for their projects. In 2017, we received 45 inquiries from the EDPNC or NCSE and were able to submit proposals on 19 of those. We landed Project Extreme, USB Recycling, and its 45 new jobs, and are in the mix for 3 or 4 others, one of which I expect to be announced as a win shortly after the first of the year. There were a couple of setbacks as well, but all-in-all I think 2017 can be characterized as a modest success.
What do you expect in 2018?
I expect to take the next step, next several steps actually, forward. With some additional properties coming online, I hope to increase the rate of inquiry conversion from 42% to something north of 50%, and to convert a higher percentage of those responses into visits and short-lists. As I mentioned previously, I think we are likely to get an impressive win early in the year, and would like to see one or two more in that same 20-50 job, $3-$5 million investment range before the holidays roll around again. Although the impact won't be immediate, the anticipated opening of the Monroe Expressway late in the year will be a watershed event for the economic future of the county. And finally, should the Toyota-Mazda plant locate in North Carolina, that will open up a whole new set of opportunities with the ancillary auto parts suppliers who will be scrambling to establish a presence in the region. My business background is in automotive, so I speak that language and understand those issues. Put me across the table from a tier 1 or 2 parts supplier and I think it gives us a competitive advantage.
What keeps you up at night?
I started in Statesville in May of 2007. A couple of months later I ran into the business reporter for the local newspaper in K-mart and she asked me about the "spike" in the unemployment rate the previous month. It had gone from maybe 3.9% to maybe 4.3%. That was newsworthy at the time. Eighteen months later, unemployment hit double-digits. A significant economic downturn is the one thing that concerns me. I have no reason to believe it is going to happen and, indeed, if you want my prediction, I think things will continue to chug along at a pace similar to hat we've seen over the past few years. But, with North Korea, the global threat of terrorism, and a stock market that has been burning jet fuel lately, there is enough uncertainty to keep that fear in the back of my mind. My parents lived through the Great Depression and that experience never left them. They were cautious with their money and exceedingly risk-averse for the rest of their lives. Similarly, I think the feeling of powerlessness that many of us in the economic development community felt in 2008 colors the way we look at things.
So as not to end on a down note, what are your plans for the holidays?
My wife, Janet, our dog, Laika, and I are heading down to Folly Beach for Christmas. I don't know about New Years yet. We don't usually do anything over-the-top and so I expect probably just dinner and a movie.
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