EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Vision

The Greenville ENC Alliance’s strategic plan for FY24-28 outlines a path for Greenville - Pitt County to both deepen its role as the gem of eastern North Carolina and stake a claim as a leading metro area on the East Coast. We have the higher education assets, leading companies, visionary leaders, and can-do attitude to achieve this vision However, staking out a niche and building this brand recognition beyond our state will take strategy, focus, coordinated action, and resourcing This strategic plan provides the roadmap to get there The development process engaged the people who can lead us down this path. Now, we need the collective effort and determination to get there over the next ten years

Stakeholder Input

Between January and March 2023, we engaged with more than 100 stakeholders through a mix of 1:1 interviews, surveys, a stakeholder breakfast, and a series of steering committee meetings to guide the plan’s development

Plan Highlights

What has emerged from this process is a more refined vision for the Alliance to serve as a quarterback within our community’s economic development ecosystem with a mission to attract new businesses and support existing ones to maximize opportunities for investment, job creation, and economic growth.

To be this catalyst for growth, we will focus primarily on business development, marketing and promotion of the metro, and development of industrial product. We will play convening and/or supporting roles for other critical areas for growth including policy advocacy, entrepreneurship, talent development and retention, and quality of life/placemaking efforts

Impact And Implementation

Our plan sets the bar high for where we want to be in ten years, which is in the top quartile for job growth amongst a set of 11 peer communities. To get there, we will need to (1) invest heavily to expand our portfolio of project-ready industrial sites and buildings; (2) double-down on our marketing and promotion efforts to raise awareness of our community’s strengths; and (3) enhance our business development efforts to engage more prospects, more deeply, while leveraging our partners more efficiently

We know we cannot undertake this effort alone For us to be successful and impactful, we need to be in lockstep with our key economic development partners at the state, regional, county, and municipal levels We are grateful to have so many of these partners involved in the development of the strategic plan. Our organization is committed to continuing these great partnerships that will be critical to achieving our goals

The Alliance can play a quarterback role in its top priority areas and pursue targeted opportunities to impact other areas critical for growth by serving as a convener, catalyst, or supporter: