Cumberland County NC Business Council

 

History

Six years ago, the Fayetteville area was struggling economically. Time and again, the area had been frustrated in its attempts to recruit new businesses. It was plagued with an inability to articulate a unified vision for its future. Instead of repeating the same cycle of consultants that were not familiar with the area touting the newest "buzz practices" in economic development marketing, the community, turned inward and focused on the process of self-inspection.

A group of local community leaders spearheaded a plan to have the Office of Economic Development at the University of North Carolina pinpoint the area's greatest strengths and weaknesses and then work with the community to identify the best opportunities for the region's economic growth. The findings from those initial studies confirmed what most residents already knew, that Fayetteville suffered from a poor community image, fragmented territorial local leadership and underutilized military bases- the home of over 75,000 soldiers and dependents.

What was different this time, was that the area set concrete goals to break down those barriers. Through a process that involved several hundred citizens from all walks of life, the community defined objectives. The three main objectives were to develop a unified vision for economic development, to improve Fayetteville's image and to leverage the military presence to create economic development opportunities.

As a result of the findings and recommendations of the Greater Fayetteville Futures community initiative, the group reviewed ways to coordinate its economic development effort. Historically, Fayetteville had various economic development entities each working on one piece of the economic development puzzle. This system leaned toward a disjointed approach with no centralized focus and vision. The Cumberland County Business Council (CCBC) was formed in March of 2003 to streamline and coordinate the efforts of the Fayetteville Area Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Development Corporation and the Fayetteville Area Economic Development Corporation and is now headed by one President- for all organizations. This new structure not only saves resources, equipment and staff, but allows the top officers of the three boards, along with the City, County, Convention and Visitors Bureau, Business and Professional League (minority business development) and Women's Center, to come together to ensure all staff and volunteers are directing their efforts and intellectual capital to the same unified vision.

Streamlining these efforts resulted in a $100,000 savings or 5 percent of the total budget for 2003-2004. The team approach has also resulted in unified economic development and general marketing efforts. Media and marketing packages now include material on the downtown revitalization effort, economic development successes and quality of life publications. Today prospects are not only educated on the economic feasibility of the area, but are often also exposed to staff members with expertise in other areas that may be important to a client.

On July 1, 2005, the Boards of the 3 organizations voted to merge. Today the Cumberland County Business Council manages the economic development efforts for the area.

 

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