When the final version of a consultant’s report is released in early April, New Hanover County officials could be asked to consider some substantial changes.
 
According to a draft version of the report, Pathways to Prosperity: New Hanover County’s Plan for Jobs and Investment, from Atlanta-based Garner Economics, released to media outlets Wednesday, the county will be given an ambitious to-do list, which includes creating a better-focused economic development mechanism, collaborating to a greater degree with its municipalities and with adjacent counties to present a “unified brand” to businesses, committing more resources and leadership to boosting small businesses and entrepreneurship and targeting four specific kinds of industries in its recruitment efforts.
 
“The county’s location, the existence of the port and ILM [Wilmington International Airport], its higher education assets, and existing industry clusters are solid foundations upon which it can build. However, the area must find consensus around the type of economy it wants to build and be more proactive in nurturing and attracting high-quality companies that will provide opportunities for its growing population,” the report stated.
 
The firm’s observations, analyses and recommendations were drawn from area demographic data and from opinions expressed in six focus groups and through an electronic public survey. Garner Economics also looked at best practices in other cities and compared several aspects of Wilmington’s economic development efforts and potential specifically with Mobile, Ala. and Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.
 
Among its extensive observations of the current economic development approach and recommendations for improvement, the firm wrote: “As a whole, the area’s business development activities appear to be reactive. During the discovery phase, several comments were made indicating that there has been a lack of leadership in the area in setting a vision for economic growth.”
 
“Moreover, the County must take the lead to undo or mitigate policies, such as the Special Use Permit, that currently inhibit greater levels of investment in New Hanover. Concurrent with this, the county should facilitate efforts to better market the region as a whole and to consolidate government services and create realistic incentive packages to improve the area’s business climate.

After presenting extensive amounts of information about the area’s assets and challenges, and outlining the comments from focus group participants and survey respondents, Garner laid out its recommendations under three main headings: Execute effectively, Build a better product and Tell the story.

The "Execute effectively" section listed several recommendations, including the creation of a county department of economic and community development and hiring a director, considering the consolidation of some aspects or services of city and county governments, and eliminating the Special Use Permit or modifying the Table of Permitted Uses.

"Building a better product" recommendations included advocating for a pharmacy school in the county, creating a "talent pipeline," and improving infrastructure - notably water and sewer.

The "Tell the story" section recommended four industries Garner believes New Hanover County should target: life and marine sciences, high-value office operations, precision manufacturing and aircraft assembly and maintenance.

There appears to be no recommendation related to the area’s film industry or further developing the county as a tourist attraction. In its goal statement under the “Build a better product” heading, the firm wrote, “New Hanover County transforms itself from a predominantly tourist and service economy to one that better leverages its economic fundamentals."

The final report will be presented to the county April 2.

In emailing the draft to a list of county officials Wednesday morning, assistant county manager Tim Burgess said, “Since Mr. Garner is still making revisions to the Pathways to Prosperity document and will not make his presentation to the Board of County Commissioners and the Wilmington City Council until April 2nd, county staff feels that it is premature for us to comment on the draft; therefore, this email will serve as the county’s only comments until Mr. Garner has made his presentation.”

Click here for a copy of the draft report. Click here for a copy of a December report from Garner Economics from the first phase of its study about New Hanover County.