Small Town North Carolina

Harnett County, N.C.: Where Preparation Plus Proximity Equals Opportunity

By Phyllis Owens

Strategic planning or visioning have long been buzz words in the economic development arena. Today those terms have given way to others such as sustainability, environmentally friendly development, green development and smart growth. Rural Harnett County, N.C. has embraced them all.

Enjoying a central location within North Carolina, Harnett County is strategically positioned for businesses serving Fort Bragg, N.C. or the Raleigh-Durham region of the state. Harnett has prepared for its future while working to maintain the finer aspects of rural living by serving its citizens with careful, long-term planning. The county has actually implemented its 2000 strategic plan that encourages job growth while enhancing quality of life, especially the recreational alternatives in the county.
 
Back when strategic planning was the buzz, the county embraced the process and unlike so many others, actually implemented the goals and objectives of its strategic plan. The plan called for the extension of water, sewer and roadways to better serve residents. Today Harnett County not only has water and sewer lines through a major portion of the county, the county's utility serves residents in seven other counties that border it. Highway 87, with its 4 lane, divided highway, takes soldiers and civilians back and forth through the county, to Fort Bragg or to Raleigh, NC, the state capital. Improvements to Highway 401 carry residents to Raleigh or to I-95 and to communities within the county and the Harnett Jetport. 

The strategic plan called for the creation of industrial sites to aid in recruiting new businesses and jobs as well as enhancing the quality of life of residents. Harnett County, through partnerships with four non-profits, has strategically created new industrial sites and added to its industrial sites inventory. The county recently celebrated a milestone in their planning with the start of construction of the new LEED Silver Harnett Health System’s Hospital in the Brightwater Science and Technology Campus.

A community breakfast was held to celebrate the start of construction of the 150-bed hospital in the Brightwater S&T Campus. After several years of preparation, launching the first facility on the campus is the start to the development of a park planned to attract other companies in the life sciences disciplines as well as medical offices, medical training facilities and research and development firms, all complimented by commercial and retail establishments. The campus is being developed with green space and other amenities, including a walkable area. 

The Brightwater Science and Technology Campus compliments the 19-acre Brightwater Business Park. The Park will soon see the construction of a facility by First Choice of about 32,000 square feet to serve the medical needs of area residents. The creation of the Brightwater Campus and Park was preceded by the development of a 242-acre park for the western part of the county.  Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) was provided 15 acres upon which to build a Western Harnett training center. The location of CCCC adjacent to the park will provide tenants the opportunity to have employees trained within feet of their new jobs.

The Western Harnett Industrial Park was prepared to enhance the opportunity to recruit defense related companies desiring a location close to Fort Bragg with great access to the universities located in the Raleigh-Durham area, the Research Triangle Park as well as Raleigh-Durham International Airport. An 8,600-square-foot spec was built in the park with the opportunity to become an incubator for emerging companies. 

The leadership of Harnett has carefully plotted the economic course of the county in such a way as to increase jobs while increasing quality of life assets for the residents. Each time the county invests in industrial efforts they balance that investment with an investment in recreational opportunities for residents. With the County’s support, the Harnett Forward Together Committee, a non-profit volunteer organization supporting the economic growth of the county, purchased a vacated textile mill and then donated a portion of the land adjacent to the Cape Fear River to the County Parks and Recreation Department. This same group also purchased a 1,000-acre site to create West Park, a new recreation site for county residents. The park is used by area school children as an environmental laboratory where they learn about nature, sustainability and the earth’s role and importance in everyone’s lives.

Sustainability, environmentally friendly development, green development and smart growth are not limited to places like Raleigh, N.C. You will find those forward thinking aspects of economic development just 25 miles south of Raleigh in rural Harnett County, N.C.

This article is sponsored by Progress Energy, Electricities and Duke Energy