New Hanover County recently released an update to its five-year strategic plan formed in 2012.

The report was presented to New Hanover County Commissioners at their meeting this week and cited 14,338 new jobs, $1.9 billion in private investment, and an increased average weekly wage of 13.8 percent in the county between July 2012 and June 2017.

The numbers, calculated from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, exceeded the county's five-year goal of 6,000 new jobs, officials said. 

“Having a strategic plan has been incredibly helpful and the Board of Commissioners fully supports staff as they move forward to refresh the strategy map, and implement the new goals and measures the Board adopts," said Woody White, chairman of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners, in a county news release.

The county’s 2012-2017 plan focused on intelligent growth and economic development, public health and safety, and education and workforce. 

"It was about creating an environment. It was about focusing on job creation. It was about partnering with the private sector to encourage incentives. It was enhancing our partnership with our business recruiting partners," New Hanover County Manager Chris Coudriet said Thursday. "It was a whole range of things that because the board was crystal clear about what it wanted to do -- that is in economic development and intelligent growth -- that we had a place in helping this community grow and thrive."

Over the past five years, county officials said in the report, the county has initiated policies and plans aimed at enouraging private investment, increasing jobs, creating greater access to resources and focusing on environmental stewardship.

County officials say those initiatives include adopting the county's Comprehensive Plan, addressing suggestions in the Pathways to Prosperity economic development analysis, implementing a business model for environmental management, and beach renourishment projects.

"We are one small contributor. But we do help create that overall environment," Coudriet said of the county's efforts. "Little things that create overall growth and expansion, managed in a smart and effective way."

Federal statistics show the county had 109,013 jobs in the first quarter of 2017, up from 94,675 in the first quarter of 2012. The average weekly wage in the first quarter of 2012 was $749, increasing to a little more than $852 in the first quarter of this year.

Adam Jones, associate professor of economics at the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Cameron School of Business, said the largest jobs increase for the region over the past five years was in the professional business and services sector. That category has grown 34 percent since 2012, which Jones said is "a sizable increase." These are firms that are providing services to other businesses in the area, including accountants and lawyers, he said.

"That's a very positive sign for the region. That shows that we are building out our business infrastructure and I think reflects the region's growth overall with New Hanover and Wilmington being at the core of the region. So you would expect to see a lot of this professional business and services in the county," Jones said.

The leisure and hospitality sector also grew about 23 percent during the same period, Jones said. Another sector that's smaller but is performing well in the region is information, he said. These firms include software developers and publishers. 

That sector grew 13 percent, but more importantly, Jones said, is now one of the strong sectors in the region compared to national average, and it pays well, compared to a lot of other sectors.

But an industry that is falling short in the county is construction.

"Looking in terms of percentage growth, we are still down in construction employment, about 12 percent from where we were five years ago. That's obviously been picking up more recently, but still not quite back to where we were," Jones said.

"Overall I think it's sort of a mixed picture. Again some of it depends on what your objective is. But the growth of the information sector is a positive sign for the region. It shows growing strength. Information is also where the contract research organization is going to be, the CRO clusters. I think all of that is positive for the region. The growth in leisure and hospitalities has pros and cons to it. The pro is that jobs are generally good. The con is leisure and hospitality jobs don't tend to pay really well or have good benefits that come with them," he added.

For the county, the next step is to formulate and refresh a new measurement for the future, Coudriet said. The county will be working with a range of stakeholders and partners in the community to find objectives that are "possible and obtainable over the next five years," he said.

"As excited as I am to have been just one person involved in this for the last five years, I think I'm probably now more excited about what maybe the next five years look like," he said. 

Coudriet said county staff plan to have another plan to present to commissioners by the end of the year.