Hickory fire chief presents 2025–2030 strategic plan emphasizing training, succession and wellness

Fire Chief Matt Hutchinson presented the Hickory Fire Department's 2025'2030 strategic plan to the Hickory City Council at its Aug. 5 meeting, saying the plan will guide the department's priorities, training and staffing over the next five years.

Hutchinson told council the department completed a multi-step review that combined an online community survey, internal workshops with 22 employees across every division and guidance from the Centers for Public Safety Excellence, an accreditation facilitator. "This plan should be dynamic, as they all should be. And it should not be a binder sitting on a shelf collecting dust," Hutchinson said.

The plan sets a concise mission and retains core values while grouping hundreds of suggestions into six initiatives. Hutchinson described the priorities as: improving public outreach and communications; evaluating response-area growth and service needs; strengthening multi-agency response (including a county rescue task force and closer work with Hickory Police); enhancing all-hazards training and succession planning; updating policies and procedures to align with goals; and sustaining health and wellness programs for department members.

Hutchinson said the department heard through the public survey that residents most strongly identify the department with firefighting, even though personnel respond to far more medical calls. Internally, staff highlighted strengths (training division partnerships such as the burn-building collaboration at Catawba Valley Community College, strong interdepartmental relationships and equipment) and weaknesses (station location relative to growth and internal communication). Hutchinson said staffing remains a risk across the fire service because departments are competing for employees; he noted the department recently hired seven staff and has 13 recruits in the fire academy.

The chief said every goal will be assigned a lead (often a battalion chief or captain), progress will be reviewed at least biannually, and the plan will be posted on the city website after editorial cleanup. Hutchinson specifically named several operational initiatives: minimum training requirements tied to nine core services, a rescue task force in collaboration with county partners and Hickory Police, use of the city's new NEOGOV onboarding system to support recruitment and retention, and a health-and-wellness committee to address cancer prevention and fitness.

Council members praised the department. A council member who identified himself as Tony said he was "constantly impressed" with the department's training and customer-service focus. Mayor Gess and other council members also thanked Hutchinson and staff for their work and said they look forward to seeing implementation results.

Hutchinson said the plan will support accreditation obligations (a strategic plan is required every five years under the department's accreditor) and emphasized measurement and accountability: "We continue to measure our performance so that we are held to task." He invited questions and said he will oversee progress to avoid the plan becoming shelfware.

The council took no formal vote on the plan at the meeting; Hutchinson presented it as the departmental report and asked for council support going forward.