webadmin posted on March 02, 2010 19:45
Statesville and Mooresville teamed up once again to achieve the honor of being ranked as America’s No. 1 Micropolitan community in 2009 for new and expanding facilities by Site Selection magazine, the official publication of the Industrial Asset Management Council.
“If a (race) driver were as dominant in NASCAR as Statesville-Mooresville is in economic development, the officials who run the sport would likely start building more challenging tracks,” according to Site Selection magazine’s Ron Starner. “For the second year in a row, Statesville-Mooresville has been named the No. 1 Micropolitan in the U.S. by Site Selection for capturing more corporate facilities expansion projects than any other small-town area in the country.”
The Iredell County communities recorded 20 projects with an investment of at least $1 million in 2009. The next closest Micropolitan communities, Wooster, Ohio and Pottsville, Pennsylvania, each reported 13 projects..
How dominant are these Iredell County communities in economic development among small cities?
Consider that they have won the top ranking seven of the last eight years and have finished lower than second place only once since 1999. No other Micropolitan area in the nation has achieved the honor even twice during that period.
“The City of Statesville is proud of the efforts of the Greater Statesville Development Corporation’s (GSDC) role in achieving this prestigious award….again,” said Costi Kutteh, Mayor of Statesville. “Together, we have learned that economic development efforts are a 24-7-365 process to handle the ebbs and flows of our economy.”
Statesville-Mooresville is a key employment center in the Charlotte region for industrial, headquarters/back office and motorsports. The area has seen tremendous population growth over the past decade, providing new and expanding companies with a large, skilled workforce and positive business climate. The area also boasts one of the lowest combined tax rates in the state, along with an unmatched quality of life, outstanding educational system, and excellent transportation infrastructure.
Existing business expansion investment led the way for Statesville-Mooresville in 2009. Although each corporate expansion is important, the following examples show the investments made by existing companies:
- Commercial Vehicle Group invested $1.7 million
- Piedmont Rubber Recycling invested $2.3 million General
- Microcircuits invested $2 million
- BestSweets invested $6 million
- Yates Precision Machining invested $2 million
- Detroit Speed and Engineering invested $2 million
The No. 1 Micropolitan community also brought in new companies from near and far in 2009. Statesville was successful in locating Talon Systems from Canada with a $3.5 million investment. Liburdi Dimetrics moved its operations to Mooresville with an investment of $3 million.