Forward Rowan Plan

Goal: Increase prosperity for all Rowan County residents through business retention and attraction efforts.

Key Objectives

• Grow existing businesses.
• Attract new firms and investments.
• Maintain competitive locational advantages.

Actions

Provide leadership for the coordination of local economic development services.

• Broaden Expand Rowan, the Rowan EDC’s business retention & expansion program that proactively addresses the needs of Rowan’s traded-sector businesses.
• Attract new employers in Rowan County’s targeted sectors:
  • • Advanced Manufacturing
    • Logistics & Distribution
    • Office & Technology
    • Health
• Ensure infrastructure and amenities are enhanced to support business expansion and development.

Goal: Support lifelong learning endeavors that increase talent levels in Rowan County through the alignment of education, training, business, and social services.

Key Objectives

• Align education and workforce systems.
• Develop home-grown talent.
• Promote the innovation occurring in education systems across Rowan County.
• Retain the best and brightest workers.
• Attract talented individuals to Rowan County.

Actions

• Actively engage in the development of demand-driven education and training programs in high school and post-secondary education.
• Work with education and workforce development partners to increase educational attainment levels in Rowan County.
• Increase awareness among Rowan County businesses about available workforce development programs.
• Attract new residents and workers by promoting the job opportunities available among Rowan County employers.
• Highlight the favorable working environments and career opportunities available within Rowan County’s major industries.

Goal: Promote Brand Rowan and serve as the leading marketing organization for communicating the brand message to targeted audiences.

Key Objectives

• Promote and accelerate the use of the Rowan County brand elements among local organizations.
• Promote Rowan County to external audiences.
• Build community pride and understanding among our internal audiences.

Actions

• Support the Brand Rowan marketing initiative to improve local perceptions of Rowan County and communicate its competitive advantages.
• Develop high-impact, professional marketing and communications tools.
• Market Rowan County to site selection influencers and companies within our targeted industries through multiple marketing channels.

Goal: Build an organizational structure that ensures the delivery of high-performance economic development services that is supported by Rowan County’s public and private sectors.

Key Objectives

• Increase public awareness of the value of the Rowan EDC and the community’s growth effort.
• Provide outstanding levels of service to our investors, prospects, and existing industries.
• Recruit, retain, and develop highly talented staff.
• Develop an organizational structure that supports outstanding service levels.

Actions

• Build public support and knowledge of economic growth activities and their impact on the community.
• Recruit, retain, and train “best in class” staff capable of strategically leading and managing the Rowan EDC.
• Develop an engaged leadership body comprised of public- and private-sector representatives to provide oversight to the Forward Rowan initiative.
• Conduct an assessment to identify the organizational structure that supports the complementary goals of the Rowan EDC and Rowan Growth Partners.