Moore County Economic Development Partnership (MCEDP) recently released their Quarterly Progress Report highlighting their activities and initiatives in the areas of economic development, community development, and workforce development for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2023.
“Our top highlight of this quarter was MCEDP’s acquisition of the Iron Horse Industrial Park in Aberdeen,” said Natalie Hawkins, president of MCEDP. “Our organization achieved an historic milestone with this acquisition, making Iron Horse Moore County’s first publicly controlled industrial site. We greatly appreciate the collaborative efforts of several partners that culminated in this accomplishment.”
Business Recruitment, Retention and Expansion
MCEDP continues to receive business leads at unprecedented levels. In fact, MCEDP saw 72 leads at the end of this quarter, which is double the highest recorded number of new business leads received in the first six months of any fiscal year in the organization’s 20-year history.
“We were able to respond with suitable properties for 42%, or 30, of those leads, and as we make progress with our development activities preparing Iron Horse for business recruitment and identifying more sites, we look forward to significantly increasing our response percentage with future leads,” said Hawkins.
This quarter, MCEDP’s Business Retention & Expansion efforts included visiting six Moore County businesses and hosting two special events: a Manufacturing Day Breakfast in October and the 2023 Moore Entrepreneurial Summit in November.
To celebrate National Manufacturing Day on Oct. 6, MCEDP and partners hosted a Manufacturing Day breakfast and roundtable discussion for Moore County’s manufacturers. Almost 40 manufacturers, state & elected officials, and support organizations attended and heard guest presentations from state resource organizations, discussed challenges local manufacturers are facing, and toured two Aberdeen manufacturing facilities. During October, MCEDP also promoted a “Made in Moore” campaign on social media that highlighted several local manufacturers and the unique products they make in Moore County.
On Nov. 14, MCEDP hosted the inaugural Moore Entrepreneurial Summit in Pinehurst. Nearly 200 aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners attended the sold-out event. Attendees heard from several successful local entrepreneurs, met with entrepreneurial support organizations, and had the opportunity to pitch their businesses and network. MCEDP is planning the 2nd annual Summit to be held later this year.
Product Development
In addition to acquiring the 73-acre Iron Horse Industrial Park, MCEDP also made substantial progress this quarter toward implementing $1,380,000 in key development activities planned for the site that include constructing an access road, timbering approximately 56 acres, and grubbing & grading 15 acres.
“These activities will move Iron Horse closer to being shovel-ready,” said Darryn Burich, MCEDP business development director. “This is particularly important in enhancing our competitiveness because we are seeing that so many prospective clients have accelerated project timelines.”
MCEDP also began exploring other potential opportunities for business park development that include:
• Evaluating the viability of a 319-acre site and a 237-acre site that were each identified through NC’s Southeast Partnership’s Large Site Identification Analysis as having high development potential;
• Entering into Development Agreements with local property owners that could enable MCEDP to obtain public control of sites without having to outlay cash to purchase them; and
• Implementing a shell (unfinished) building or industrial incubator development program that could generate recurring revenue for MCEDP to fund other site development activities.
Workforce & Community Development / Other Activities
Also notably, this quarter, MCEDP prepared a comprehensive 38-page “Moore County Economic Task Force Report” at the request of the Moore County Commissioners’ Economic Task Force. Presented to the Board of Commissioners in December, the comprehensive report includes an overview of the local economy and an extensive analysis of existing infrastructure, population & employment projections, external factors affecting the future economy, and Moore County’s economic assets & strategic advantages. Based on the data analysis, the report provides seven key strategies identified by MCEDP that can take advantage of Moore County’s economic opportunities and help support positive economic growth. These strategies target areas such as land use planning, infrastructure investments, and workforce housing, to name a few.
“MCEDP looks forward to working collaboratively with local governments and other partner organizations to purposefully implement these strategies to help Moore County accommodate anticipated growth, retain our high quality of life, and foster continued prosperity,” said Hawkins.
The full Quarterly Progress Report for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2023, as well as the Moore County Economic Task Force Report, can be viewed on the Moore County EDP website.
MCEDP is a 501c(3) not-for-profit economic development organization and public-private partnership serving all of Moore County, NC. MCEDP’s mission is to “increase economic prosperity and improve the quality of life for Moore County’s citizens through the creation of quality jobs and capital investment in our communities.”
For more information about MCEDP, please visit www.moorecountyedp.org.
Feature photo: Map of Iron Horse Industrial Park in Aberdeen.
Contributed/Courtesy photo.
