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Goldsboro council hears economic development vision, signals consensus to advance plan
Summary
City staff and a North Carolina Main Street planner presented an updated economic development vision and eight recommendations. Council members asked for more data and agreed by consensus to move a resolution to adopt the vision and pursue a comprehensive economic development plan at a future meeting.
Samantha Darlington, a planner with the North Carolina Main Street and Rural Planning Center at the North Carolina Department of Commerce, presented an updated economic development vision for Goldsboro and recommended the city pursue a comprehensive economic development strategic plan. The council gave consensus for staff to bring a resolution to a future meeting to formalize the vision and next steps.
Darlington said the forum updated a 2022 Community Development Assessment and Plan (CDAP) and produced a vision statement that frames Goldsboro as “a strategic gateway between the coast and the state capital” with strengths in “agriculture, national defense, and transportation.” She said the forum identified gaps in small-business support outside downtown, housing and childcare shortages, and uneven revitalization beyond the central business district.
"The city of Goldsboro, a strategic gateway between the coast and the state capital, serves as a thriving hub where agriculture, national defense, and transportation converge to fuel economic growth and business development," Darlington said. She summarized eight recommendations from the forum: develop a comprehensive 3-, 5- and 10-year economic development strategic plan based on the updated vision; focus on small-business growth and business incubation; prioritize neighborhood revitalization outside downtown; improve inter-organizational collaboration and create a central communications hub or task force; enhance citizen engagement and transparency to address residents' gentrification concerns; consider creating or contracting for an economic development professional; support family-friendly initiatives (housing, childcare, amenities) to retain workers; and encourage broader citizen participation to avoid volunteer burnout.
Council members pressed for more detail about the visioning work and the underlying survey. One councilor asked for a breakdown of how many respondents ranked each priority; Darlington and staff said they could provide more detailed analysis and the forum materials that updated the CDAP. Several members emphasized keeping downtown’s gains while expanding revitalization to neighborhoods citywide.
Aaron, a representative of the downtown nonprofit (DGDC), said the nonprofit and the city have longstanding agreements and credited the joint efforts for about $51,000,000 in private investment, 200 jobs created and 200 building expansions and renovations in the past decade. Craig Foote, representing the Wayne County Development Alliance on the panel, urged a clear single point of contact in city government for businesses and recommended improved data collection on existing and new businesses.
City staff said the next procedural step will be a resolution to adopt the vision statement and produce a framework for a full strategic plan. A city staff member said he and Darlington would develop the resolution for the next council meeting; the council indicated no opposition when asked whether staff should proceed. The action recorded in the meeting transcript is a council consensus to instruct the manager to place a resolution on an upcoming consent agenda (no formal roll-call vote was recorded).
The discussion continued into a panel session with local economic development stakeholders, who described distinctions between industrial recruitment and the broader practice of economic development that includes housing, childcare, small-business support and quality-of-life improvements. Panelists pointed to models in nearby counties and cities where city economic development staff coordinates with nonprofit downtown organizations and county-level industrial recruitment.
Council members and panelists agreed that Goldsboro can begin implementing items that do not require a completed strategic plan—such as improved stakeholder communication and citizen engagement—while staff and partners work on the comprehensive plan. Staff and Darlington proposed returning with the requested detailed survey breakdown and a draft resolution for council consideration at a future meeting.
