
Hometowns across the state are already on the map with Here We Grow, the League's energetic, new campaign promoting the economic development strides of municipalities. Have you joined yet? This week, just minutes after a Town of Midland employee requested a login to herewegrownc.org, he submitted a story and photo explaining how the growing town of roughly 3,200 residents recently leveraged area assets to land a manufacturing facility that is investing an initial $49 million there and plans to pay workers well above the Cabarrus County average. "Midland has experienced a 17.8% growth in tax base over the last three years, and is on track to best that with an expected 21% growth in tax base over the next three," the town reported on the Here We Grow website. Midland joined Salisbury, Burlington, Hickory, Kannapolis, Greensboro, Mooresville and other North Carolina municipalities that have posted their economic development stories.
In Hickory, where the public and private sectors have teamed to revive inactive locations, "Properties like the former Piedmont Wagon, Moretz Mill, Simmons Hosiery, Hollar Hosiery, and Lyerly Mill sites have resulted in public/private partnerships that led to property restoration, preservation of Hickory’s history, and millions of dollars invested into Hickory’s future," the town posted at herewegrownc.org. In Goldsboro, the creation of a downtown and neighborhood master plan along with city investments have brought about a booming downtown business scene. "Since planning for the first block in 2010, 49 new businesses opened in downtown," the city wrote. "There have also been 23 new owner/investors in downtown commercial buildings, with rehabilitation projects either completed or underway and valued at $3.8 million -- taking place in the last two years. With that momentum, the city has been able to win some additional state grants, all of which makes for a great and revitalized downtown."
Want to see more stories like this? Want to add yours? Visit herewegrownc.org and send an email to about@herewegrownc.org with "Login" in the subject line. If you're with one of our municipalities, we'll send you a username and password to access the site. We want to bring attention to your successes. To remind, the idea behind Here We Grow is simple: When each of us does better, we all do better. Besides the story-telling components of the site, a site toolkit will allow you to:
- Download a customizable PowerPoint presentation that both promotes the campaign and highlights your city or town’s efforts.
- Download a flyer that can be tailored around your investment story.
There will be more tools to come in the future, and more discussion about Here We Grow at CityVision 2016. All of this was designed to make it easy for you to use and to bring public attention to your efforts. We’ve also developed a detailed how-to guide to answer any questions. For more information, feel free to email Scott Mooneyham or Ben Brown on the NCLM staff.