Gov. Pat McCrory announced plans Monday to pursue a “Partnership for Prosperity,” an effort to change the way economic growth is fostered in North Carolina. New legislation will create a separate nonprofit corporation to center economic development functions for the state. A board of directors, chaired by the governor, will oversee the Partnership and have governance of all recruitment and retention activities. The functions include small business development, entrepreneurship, international investment and import/export, along with travel and tourism.
“We are going to unleash North Carolina’s economic potential with a bold new approach to recruit and retain business,” said Gov. McCrory. “The Partnership will allow us to grow more jobs, and better-paying jobs for North Carolina.”
The new partnership will leverage existing state funds to get the private sector more involved in economic development. In the long run, fewer state dollars will be needed to run the programs currently operated by the N.C. Dept. of Commerce and several non-profit organizations receiving state funding.
“We have to be able to move faster, primarily in terms of job recruiting,” said N.C. Commerce Sec. Sharon Decker. “Our economic development efforts must also recognize that one size does not fit all, and the economies of all communities are important to us.”
Over the next 45 days, the N.C. Dept. of Commerce will develop a plan for the public-private partnership that includes organizational structure, budget and cost projections, as well as a timeline for implementing the reform. Bill Elmore, vice chairman of Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, has volunteered to lead the effort in the department’s restructuring review. The group will also be meeting and seeking input from various stakeholders in the economic development process. Bipartisan legislation will be introduced this week to help shape these changes and get them in place before the end of this year.
An outstanding initiative statement! As part of an existing business in Robeson County employing almost 3,000 employees state-wide, over 2,000 employees just in Robeson County, the statement by Govenor McCrory of the establishment of a Partnership to recruit and retain business is good news indeed. I applaud Gov. McCrory’s efforts!
I think I heard that “transportation” is part of this initiative…
I’m thinking that means trains..
High-speed rail might have it’s place…but it is costly…very costly…
and once on the train, and after you reach your destination hub or station..then what? How do you get from the station to where you want to go? (medical center, mall, etc..)
Recent studies seem to show that the new modern buses are a better way to go…
and far less expensive, and less disruptive to neighborhoods…makes this idea seems more sensible to me.
I guess some sort of combination of high rail and buses to specific points of destination might be the solution.
Hopefully, Gov. McCrory’s “Partnershp for Prosperity” won’t be pie in the sky and will bring new fresh ideas that will benefit NC’s people.
With the insurance company coming and Google expanding with 300 million dollars and none of the new plans in place yet, one has to wonder what has been wrong with the old system which made NC one of the best places to begin a business according to Forbes. I suspect this is just another way to eliminate the old system and put his republican people in its place.
Of course you would say that, Rick…
since for decades YOUR people have been have run the show…
Hmmmm…seems to me I heard some rumors about corruption in the past 2 Democrat Governor administrations…
But that couldn’t possibly be true, could it, Rick?
Somehow the campaign violations did not stop NC from being a place where business wanted to come. The economic possibilities have not been improved yet by the new administration and so they must not have been too bad even with unreported airplane trips and wife jobs.
Rick, I was merely responding to your quote, “I suspect this is just another way to eliminate the old system and put his republican people in its place. “…
Isn’t this what both parties do?
and why give the previous success of NC only to the Democrat party?
Why not give some credit to both parties?
and more importantly…to the hard working creative PEOPLE of NC?
It isn’t ALL about politics, Rick.