03/28/2024
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The Elizabethtown Rotary Club learned about Economic Development on Wednesday during their weekly luncheon meeting held at Cape Fear Vineyard and Winery.

Bladen County Economic Development Director Chuck Heustess led the discussion on Wednesday and told the Rotarians about a recent Economic Impact Analysis that was performed on the Elizabethtown Industrial Park.

Heustess gave some of the highlights of the report:

*In this park wages average between  $31,200 to $45,000 per year;

*The average wage in the industrial park is higher than the county average wage as a whole;

*When the study was presented this summer 288 jobs were located in the park and that figure is now already past 300;

*At the time the study was performed, $9 million in wages were paid annually at the park;

*The park generates about $4.9 million to retail and services;

Heustess explained that as part of the study,  a multiplier is added to the wages to see what the actual economic impact is for a particular region or area.

He explained that local farming has the highest multiplier of all due to the farmer purchasing fuel locally, purchasing feed locally, etc. Heustess said the lowest multiplier, for example, would be retail sales because a retail store  may send part of their proceeds to other locations outside the region rather than spending them locally.

Heustess said the economic impact on our region of this park is $26 million and with a multiplier the effect is $50 million.  He said the current number of jobs at the park as of Wednesday is 376. Heustess said that jobs in the industrial park also create a percentage of jobs at other businesses as well.

Heustess said that Bladen’s Bloomin’ Agri-Industrial was created to assist with marketing and as a conduit for grants and such to assist industries in locating in Bladen County.

“We are much more driven by buildings then by green field sites,” said Heustess.

Another new tool for economic development is a drone video of the industrial park that shows the layout of the park and the lots that are currently available.

“We are the first one to have this in North Carolina. Southeastern Economic Development Corporation paid for this,” said Heustess of the video.

He said that more and more industry consultants are asking for drone videos of industrial properties. Heustess said soon each of the 18 counties in the southeast region will have one.

“Now, a company in Japan or a company in Ohio can see the video and see the park just like flying over it in a helicopter,” said Heustess.

He said a Master Plan has also been created for the industrial park. The plan has two designs — one with large lots and one with smaller lots. Heustess said there is also an updated environmental study available and the plan lists updated costs for roads and sewer services.

Heustess said that Bladen’s Bloomin’ is also working on a small office incubator space in the former post office building located in Elizabethtown.

He said there are still some challenges to be faced by the industrial park. One is the lack of natural gas. He said large industry now needs natural gas and the Elizabethtown Industrial Park does not have natural gas. Heustess said that it costs about $1 million per mile to run a natural gas line and the closest line is about seven miles from the industrial park.

Heustess said that in the Bladenboro Industrial Park, they have natural gas and rail service  but there is no sewer capacity available.

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