Dare calls on citizens to answer economic development survey

By IRENE NOLAN

Dare County put out a call for help this afternoon to residents and local business owners.

The county is working with two contractors — North Carolina State University and RTI International — to develop an economic development and diversification plan.

“Your involvement and input are critical to our success,” the county said today on its website.

Specifically, the county wants as many folks as possible who live, work, and own businesses in Dare County to take a short amount a time to answer a survey that will  help the contractors craft their economic development recommendations.

“We are asking residents and local business owners to share their opinions and attitudes in relation to local growth, quality of life, and economic development for Dare County,” the posting on the website added. “Please complete the online survey and share the link with others.”

The survey can be accessed by either clicking on https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Dare_County_0816 or copying and pasting it into the browser on your computer, tablet or smart phone. 

It should take less than 20 minutes to complete. And all responses are anonymous.

County officials says say the survey data will be an important part of understanding what growth and economic development policies residents and business owners support. 

“The more responses we receive, the better informed we will be to address key issues about your local economy,” the county said.   

The surveys should be completed no later than Monday, Sept. 12.

The county hired the two contractors — N.C. State and RTI — in January to develop the economic development plan at a cost of $58,640 with $14,660 due on signing in January and the remainder in payments in April, July, and October.

At a January meeting of the Board of Commissioners, Commissioner Jack Shea noted that the proposed plan is not a “museum piece” but a  “living, breathing” way forward.

The presenters from N.C. State’s Office of Outreach and Engagement — Dan Parks, associate executive director, and Rex Raiford, northeast regional manager — stressed the same point.

Parks called the plan “visionary and practical” and not an “academic endeavor.” The plan, he said, develops a “high-return strategy” not one that “will collapse of its own weight” and “sit on a shelf somewhere.”

The proposal breaks the specific work into three tasks:

The proposal includes drafting a written action plan for going forward with economic development and how it will be handled by the county — such as with a county economic development office or a public-private partnership of some sort.

Parks and Raiford said that implementation is where most economic development plans fail and to avoid that for Dare County, the N.C. State team will stay with the county for six months of plan execution.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Click here to read a related Editor’s Blog, Dare County will focus on economic development in 2016.

Click here to read the Economic Diversification Plan proposed by N.C. State University Office of Outreach & Engagement.