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By Jeanna Baxter White

Davie County Economic Development Commission (DCEC) hosted the state’s economic development team, the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC), on April 4 at the Davidson County Community College – Davie Campus in Mocksville.

In addition to the state’s team, economic developers from 10 area counties attended for a day-long discussion on the economy and what it takes to win deals. Like speed-dating for economic development, each economic developer had one-on-one time with senior-level state team members to become familiar with the buildings, sites and assets the counties have to offer to attract new industries.

“We had about 15 minutes with each member of the state team to show them all of the buildings and industrial sites we have available and to tell them about our community so that they become familiar with the reasons people would want to come here,” said Terry Bralley, president of the DCEC. “The meeting also gave us the opportunity to get to know each of them personally and to understand what they do.

“The Economic Development Partnership receives all requests from new companies looking to locate in North Carolina, so having the opportunity to meet one-on-one with team members and to share what your county has to offer is an extremely valuable step in attracting new business to your area,” Bralley added. “You can only share so much information on a website so I appreciated the chance to answer questions and to explain what we are doing in Davie County.

“We also got to visit with colleagues to find out if anyone is doing something different that we can learn from.”

Davie County ranks 16th in the state, out of 100 counties, and was the only Tier 3 ranked county at the meeting, which reflects its favorable conditions and positive position in the state’s economy.

Bralley was pleased that Davie County was selected to host the regional meeting which also included Alamance, Davidson, Forsyth, Guilford, Randolph, Rockingham, Surry, Stokes, and Yadkin counties.

“They could have picked Greensboro or Winston-Salem, two of the region’s largest metropolitan areas but they chose a rural county. It was a great opportunity to show-off our community. A couple of my colleagues told me that they didn’t realize we had such a quaint downtown and that they were going to bring their families back.”

The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) focuses on recruiting new businesses to the state, supporting the needs of existing businesses, connecting exporters to global customers, helping small business owners get their start, and attracting tourists and visitors from all over the world. For more information visit EDPNC.com.