This past summer, New Hanover County staff, our Board of Commissioners and community partners, along with your input from our Community Survey in 2023, worked to create a new five-year strategic plan that will set the framework for county operations through Fiscal year 2027-28. This is the third strategic plan adopted by our Commissioners, with the first coming back in 2012-17. 

For more than a decade, these plans have been crucial to guiding decisions on operations, services and initiatives overseen by the county and our community has become a more vibrant, prosperous, and diverse place to call home because of the visionary leadership of our Commissioners and the commitment to being a mission-focused organization.

New Hanover County staff are committed to providing equitable opportunities and exceptional public services through good governance to ensure a safe, healthy, secure and thriving community for all.  That is our well-documented mission statement. All 2,300 employees at New Hanover County are presented with this mission as they begin their journey with the organization. It is the foundation that everything we do as an organization is built on.  

In addition to the community-focused outcomes of the strategic plan, it also contains the foundational basis for operating under the model of good governance, with a focus on effective management, strong financial performance and being responsible stewards of public property.  

While we strive every day to align with these principles, it’s important to take time and make sure we are effectively meeting the needs and expectations of those we serve.  

That’s where you come in.  

Our Office of Strategy has created a Good Governance Open Survey designed to allow you, our residents, an opportunity to share your feedback about the work we are doing.  

These seven questions take about five minutes to complete and focus on how we as an organization put pieces of the county's strategic plan and business principles into practice as perceived by our customers. 

You will be able to share which departments you visited or interacted with, providing valuable insight into your experience, and helping us make sure we are offering the best quality service possible. This survey is one tool we are using to monitor the strategic plan’s effectiveness over the next five years. It will be an ongoing survey, available online anytime, for you to engage with. As an organization, we will be reviewing this feedback regularly and sharing this information internally with our team. 

We are committed to a culture of continuous improvement. We want to understand what we are doing right and what we can do better. The goal is to make the necessary adjustments in real time to address the needs of those we are serving. 

But we can’t do that without you. We are dedicated to being a forward-thinking organization, constantly looking for ways to make doing business with the county as simple and hassle-free as possible. This survey helps us keep a watchful eye on that work, making sure we are aligned with our strategic goals and meeting community needs. 

You can view the survey here or find it on the county's homepage and at Strategy.NHCgov.com. Additionally, we’ll be routinely sharing the link on our social media channels and QR codes will be posted in our public facilities and at future community outreach events. 

I encourage you to take a moment and provide your feedback. Together, we can make sure New Hanover County Government is providing the service aligned with our strategic goals that meet the needs of our community.