Dressed in tan khakis and a denim shirt with the silver and chartreuse AnsonEDP logo — he typically eschews the more traditional coat and tie approach to public events — Marek shakes hands with the last of the two dozen elected officials and community and civic leaders who stopped by to learn more about the county’s latest success story and to be part of the new winning attitude that that has rippled through the community over the past year.
The Anson 74 Rail Park announcement today was the most recent in a stream of positive news stories coming from Anson County this year. To what do you attribute the turn-around in a county where positive economic news has generally been the exception?
Economic development is not one-size-fits-all. Different communities need to approach development in different ways, and there needs to be a good fit between the methodology and the community. I feel like Anson County has traditionally struggled to find the right way to go about developing its economy and promoting its unique advantages. In 2016, several months before my arrival, the County Commissioners, AEDC and Chamber came together with other public and private sector leaders and formed the Anson Economic Development Partnership. That, I think, was the turning point, and everything we have achieved since then points back to that.
So you don’t take credit, personally, for the turn-around?
No, I’m just a guy doing a job. The success story is the organization and the credit goes to the elected officials and community leaders who had the guts to stand up and say, "this isn't working." I don’t believe in “rainmakers.” I don’t think that in a well-conceived organization with the right processes in place, the individual at the top makes all that much difference, given a base level of competency. I’ve seen too many economic development organizations who say, “if we could only get so and so it would make all the difference.” It won’t, not if there isn’t a strong organization behind them.
But you have to be enjoying the success the organization has had.
I will admit that my first year here in Anson County was a difficult transition. In my last job, I was used to making major announcements every four or five weeks, so this current pace, this level of success, is more like what I am used to. Having said that, I was surprised at the level of activity here, right from the start. We were getting opportunities, we just needed to put a process in place that allowed us to capitalize on more of them.
Speaking of your last job in Statesville, what prompted you to leave a place where you had been so successful and come to Anson County, where you had to start over from scratch?
First of all, I want to go on record because I think my reasons for leaving Statesville have been misrepresented by some there as a way to justify how things turned out with Statesville Regional Development. I did not want to leave Statesville and did not leave because someone else got the top job. I would have welcomed the chance to stay on in a secondary role and help finish the job Mike Smith and I started. I was not offered that opportunity by the board, despite what some of them may now claim. On two separate occasions I asked what my role in the new organization would be and was told, “we don’t know” and “we haven’t figured that out yet,” and was further told, and this is pretty much verbatim, “you’ll just have to show up and see how things work out.”
Well, no, actually, I didn’t. I had many other opportunities. I believe I was treated poorly and there was no reason for it.
But, back to your question, I chose Anson precisely because it was a chance to start from scratch. When I came to work on October 3, 2016, I had a manila folder with a couple dozen pieces of correspondence on my desk and that was pretty much it. A clean slate. That’s an opportunity most economic developers either dream of or have nightmares about. I welcomed the challenge. And I’d done my homework; I knew that several things were about to change that could make Anson County a hot spot for development over the next decade.
And those things are?
Three things, primarily: The opening of the Monroe Expressway; the increased emphasis on the Port of Wilmington and the critical logistics corridor between it and Charlotte, and the natural flow of residential and commercial development out from Charlotte. Those things, combined with a strong national economy are allowing Anson County to finally participate in the prosperity that other exurban Charlotte communities have enjoyed over the past two decades.
The alcohol referendum; you have been very public in your support of that. Why?
Early on, I suggested the tag line for the campaign to allow county-wide alcohol sales should be, “Is this 2018 or 1820?” While that might be a little too “in your face,” it’s the essential point of the thing. Practically, it has nothing to do with the availability of beer and wine in the rural parts of the county, and everything to do with how people, businesses and developers perceive our community. Unfortunately, we are still thought of in the development community — the people who make decisions about where hotels, restaurants and apartments should go — as a somewhat “backward” place. Arguing about whether consenting adults should be allowed to buy a six-pack of beer in a convenience store in Peachland does nothing to contradict that impression. This is a significant issue. Failure to pass the alcohol referendum will negatively impact the economy of the county for years to come.
Bringing new jobs to Anson County has been a focus of AnsonEDP’s efforts. You have, by my count, announced about 100 new jobs so far this year. Do you consider that a win?
Absolutely. I think 100 or so new jobs per year is about what our community can support. Going back to something I said earlier, economic development strategy must be in tune with the community. Anson is not a populous county. While the total available laborshed, workers within a 30-mile radius, is more than 250,000, the actual number of Ansonians in the workforce is about 10,500. With unemployment rates below 5%, that means there are only a few hundred people actively looking for work in the county. We currently have more jobs available on the county’s NCWorks job posting site than we have unemployed people looking for a job. Our “ace in the hole” from a business recruiting standpoint is that about a third of our workers currently leave the county on a daily basis, many of them for high skill and professional positions, and hey would gladly switch to a job closer to home if more good jobs were available.
How does that correspond to the county losing population over the past several years?
The county has definitely lost population over the last 25 years, but it’s not the mass exodus some people claim. In truth, the actual decline in population from 1995 to now has been a few hundred people. That’s not a good thing, obviously, but it’s also not the 25% or 30% decline that some rural counties have experienced. One new housing development on the western side of the county would completely change those figures, and with the opening of the Monroe Expressway creating a viable commuting pattern into the city, I believe we will reverse the county’s population decline by the 2030 census, if not sooner.
But is being a bedroom community really what we want?
Ultimately, no, it isn’t. We need to work toward having a self-sufficient economy with Anson County jobs for Anson County residents. But, there is a chicken-or-egg dynamic, as well, and to get to where we want to end up, the first step will have to be residential development in the far western part of the county along the U.S. 74 corridor. That’s the catalyst that makes the rest of the strategy work.
You mentioned county-wide alcohol sales; what are some other things you think need to change if the county is going to grow moving forward?
The first thing that comes to mind is zoning. A very small portion of the county is zoned, which leads to a lot of confusion for companies who are looking to relocate here. I was speaking to a loan officer at a Charlotte bank the other day about them lending to a new company whose project we hope to announce in the next few weeks. They wanted to verify that the land where the facility was being built was properly zoned for what the company wanted to do. I explained that there was no zoning in that part of the county and the loan officer responded incredulously, “what do you mean, no zoning?”
I also think we need to better promote entrepreneurial opportunities for Ansonians and people who might like to move here and start a new business. AnsonEDP has created two grant programs specifically designed to encourage startups and early-growth businesses, and we’ve had some interest, but we’re still working to bring some of those business ideas to fruition. In November, we’re going to be launching a coworking program in conjunction with the Chamber and Uptown Wadesboro and we hope that will have an impact.
Okay, you have me there; what is coworking?
Coworking is a concept that has gained a lot of momentum in urban and suburban areas over the past few years, but is just now being tried in more rural areas. Basically, the idea is to create a community of entrepreneurs and small business owners who share space and services in an open and collaborative way. Think of it as a cross between a Starbucks, a pack and ship store and key man offices. It acts as a sort of incubator for the information and gig economy. We are going to start off with “CoWorking Wednesdays” at the Chamber, where we will open the Burns conference room up to anyone who wants to spend part of the day working from there. There will also be a programmatic side, with speakers discussing topics relevant to these individuals. Eventually, we would like to partner with the private-sector to create a permanent coworking space in Uptown Wadesboro with a coffee bar, mail service, pack and ship and conference room. We are talking to some interested parties right now, but that’s probably several months down the road, at least.
Thanks for speaking with me today.
Anytime. I appreciate the opportunity to get our message out there.
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