Wilmington’s diversification of services, industry and people continues to drive business growth throughout the area, Mayor Bill Saffo said Friday.

“We continue to see growth here,” Saffo said of local economic development and housing trends. “There are more people wanting to move into our area.” 

Saffo was the guest speaker during the Cape Fear Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) March Luncheon event Friday at the Pine Valley Country Club.

The business organization serves as a networking and professional group for women affiliated with the commercial and residential real estate industries in the Lower Cape Fear region. Members include commercial brokers, Realtors, mortgage officers, architects, engineers and banking executives.

Saffo said the area’s population growth was making it attractive for various businesses and companies to expand or relocate to Wilmington.

Recent figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau this week continue to highlight such trends.

Between April 1, 2010 and July 1, 2012, New Hanover County added more than 6,500 people, bringing its new population estimate to 209,234 residents – a 3.2 percent increase, according to census estimates.

Brunswick and Pender counties also posted impressive population gains and were ranked the sixth- and eighth-fastest growing in the state, respectively, according to census data.

Brunswick County grew by 4.5 percent between April 1, 2010 and July 1, 2012, bringing the county’s overall estimate to 112,257 – up from 107,431 residents. Pender County’s population sits at an estimated 54,195 – a 3.8 percent hike from 52,203 residents in April 1, 2010.

Saffo said the area must continue to be aggressive when it comes to economic development in the area and work across city and county boundaries when trying to lure jobs and industry to the area. 

“It’s very competitive out there,” Saffo said, reminding the audience that the region lost Caterpillar to Georgia and the Continental Tire plant to South Carolina.

He said incentives were key incentive to job growth, and the region and state must be committed to using them as a mechanism for economic development.

Through incentives, Saffo said, the city recently was able to keep Castle Branch’s world headquarters in the Port City by Wilmington and New Hanover County officials approving to jointly offer up to $500,000 in a five-year incentive package to the company.

As part of the agreement, the employment screening firm will add 420 new jobs to the city and invest $10.2 million to expand the company’s corporate footprint in the Mayfaire area.

Saffo added that film incentives were also helping to drive business in the area, citing a number of films and television series such as "Iron Man 3" and "Revolution" as examples of the film incentive’s success in the region and state.

“There are six states that are very competitive,” Saffo said of the film incentives. “Fortunately, we are one of them.”

But while the region continues to embrace economic diversity in the wake of one of the worse recessions in recent history, Saffo told CREW members some challenges persist when it comes to regional transportation.

While pointing out the success such as the Interstate 140 Wilmington Bypass, which will loop around Wilmington from Business U.S. Highway 17 in the Porters Neck area and end at U.S. Highway 17 south of Leland, and the Military Cutoff Road extension, which will  extend the Mayfaire roadway beyond the Market Street intersection and provide connection to I-140, Saffo said the Skyway Bridge project must be addressed.

Earlier this month, state Sen. Bill Rabon, R-Brunswick, sponsored an amendment to place the Skyway Bridge project, along with other toll road projects, into the state’s mobility fund.

The Senate transportation committee approved the amendment with a 37-13 vote.

Saffo said placing the project into the mobility fund would make it very difficult for the region to pursue funding for the project since it must correlate traffic congestion, growth and transportation needs.

“Once the project goes in the mobility fund, it’s very political,” Saffo said, adding that the region would now have to compete with Charlotte, the Triangle and Triad for a fair share of transportation dollars from the fund. “We’ll have to wait and see, but I have some concerns.”