This was the second of these joint meetings I have attended. The first, about this same time last year, came after I had been on the ground here for just a few months, and the conversations I had with the regional and state economic development leaders back then were very different than the ones I had the past two days. A year ago, there was a general lack of familiarity with Anson County; our available sites and buildings, our workforce or our key selling points. And in some cases, what they did know -- or thought they knew -- tended toward the less positive.
Over the past year, however, we -- that's AnsonEDP, the Chamber, Uptown Wadesboro, local government and others -- have completely changed the conversation about economic development in Anson County. Economic development leaders at the regional and state level are now optimistic, even enthusiastic, about the future of our little slice of the state. Phrases like "amazing turnaround" and "moving in the right direction" were commonly heard.
The change in attitude has been fueled by three primary points of discussion:
- The opening of the Monroe Expressway AND our strategies for optimizing it's impact on the economy of the county. Everyone has known for some time the Expressway would be opening in late 2018 or early 2019, but the conversation changer has been the way the county has responded to the opportunities the Expressway presents from both a residential/retail and industrial/logistics standpoint. On the retail side, two companies have already made significant investments in upgrading their facilities in the county directly as a result of the Expressway, and our shop is working with several more on potential development deals. On the industrial/logistics side, we are currently working with a manufacturer who is relocating and expanding his business specifically because of the Expressway. More will follow. The Expressway puts virtually all of Anson County within a one hour drive of Uptown Charlotte and the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, and the Peachland area will be just 40 minutes from Uptown.
- The expansion and upgrade of the Port of Wilmington AND our efforts to brand the county as a key industrial and logistics corridor linking the port to the Charlotte market; our Atlantic Gateway Initiative. Somewhat lost in all the hullabaloo about Amazon HQ2 and Toyota-Mazda has been the steady investment the state has made at the Port of Wilmington. The recently completed cold storage facility there is one of the largest on the east coast, and dredging of the river channel and increased turn-around radius has made the facility comparable in depth and geometry to Savannah. While Anson County has always positioned itself as a link between Charlotte and Wilmington, that branding has been significantly bolstered by these developments. Both the key highway and the key rail linkage run right through the the center of the county. We can very legitimately call ourselves Charlotte's Atlantic Gateway, and that's the conversation changer. One of AnsonEDP's big projects for the coming year is the launch of what we are calling the Atlantic Gateway Initiative. The centerpiece of this effort will be the Atlantic Gateway Logistics Park, a multi-modal business park in the eastern part of the county along US 74 that will support up to 3 million square feet of warehouse space and potentially be home to 200 employees. This will supplement our existing Anson 74 Rail Park; with its onsite transload facility, itself a strong selling point for the county.
- A string of significant success stories coming from the county AND our plans to keep our pipeline filled with legitimate and appropriate projects. The Columbus McKinnon expansion announcement last week was a watershed moment for economic development in Anson County. Not only did we add 19 extremely high-paying new jobs, but we beat out Charleston in doing so. That's the sort of success story that gets a county noticed by state and regional leaders. In particular, the willingness of Wadesboro and Anson County government to offer tax grants which helped to close the deal was highly regarded. Raleigh is looking for rural counties to partner with them, not just show up with a hand extended, and we have demonstrated that we are not afraid to put some "skin in the game." Further, state and regional leaders know about our pipeline of projects and are aware that several more success stories are about to be made public. It is very likely that we will have 3-4 more major announcements between now and July, representing more than $25 million in new investment and up to 100 new jobs. Now, THAT'S changing the conversation.
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