Economic Progress board approves strategic plan
By Melissa Rollins, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
During its July 18 meeting, Darlington County Economic Progress (DCEDP) approved a strategic plan that will help them see what strides they have made and what areas still need work.
“We know that this is a developing thing,” said Chairman Roger Buckley. “What we have here outlines what our collective thoughts were on the site selection guide. As Frank (Willis) has said several times, should we, as we adopt that as our guideline or our goal, also lay out the plan for further developing things that will turn into true action items, action steps?”
The DCEDP Board has talked for several of their last meetings about the need to have a guideline to follow when trying to attract industries or companies to the Darlington County area. The strategic plan gives them, and any future boards, a very clear picture of what they have done that improves the county’s chances of snagging a new development partner.
Frank Willis, DCEDP President, said that while the board has approved the current strategic plan changes can be made at any time they deem in necessary.
“We can amend it, Mr. Chairman, at any point in time,” Willis said. “This is an outline, a roadmap. You can fill in the details as we get them. What we need to do is approve our strategic plan and then as the board wants to make additions, changes, amendments, you make them.”
The strategic plan lists three main goals for the group:
• Meet existing industry needs to ensure growth and diversity of local economy
• Facilitate workforce responsiveness to industry needs
• Recruit new industry to increase investments and create jobs
The plan also included ways to measure the success of the board in relation to their goals.
The benchmarks are:
• The unemployment rate
• The per capita income
• The average wage rate
• Job creation
• Capital investment
• Increase in tax base
To help existing industries, the board wants to create a Manufacturer’s Alliance to “give voice to local industry to convey (their) needs.” They also want to hold workshops that will help local industries find and utilize the resources available to them.
A partnership with local schools and colleges is also an important part of the strategic plan, allowing DCEDP to identify the workforce needs and convey those needs to the entities most equipped to train adults and young adults to fill the gaps in the current workforce.
In recruiting new industries, the DCEDP strategic plan identifies plastics, metals, food processing, warehousing and distribution as the markets they plan to target. To encourage growth in those markets, they plan to identify potential industrial sites and work with the utilities and the Pee Dee Regional Council of Governments to fund infrastructure improvements and preliminary studies.
To find out more about Darlington County Economic Progress, visit dcedp.com.