Gaston County, North Carolina

89 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 12 recreation opportunities for citizens in the area.” With a number of water and sewer projects in the works, Maxwell details a major project which will connect the municipalities of Dallas and High Shoals. “That project is moving forward, and that’s about a $14 million interconnect for water and sewer.” Other projects will extend service to the northwestern and southwestern parts of the county, connecting elementary schools in these areas to municipal service. “These schools have been in operation for years and have not had great access to municipal water. It also allows for additional development, and we have a number of developers that are looking at those areas,” he asserts. “Some of them have projects that are already in the works in anticipation of those water lines being placed into service. There’s a lot of activity in that area as well.” A significant investment into the Gaston County school system was a necessary step Chief of Staff Justin Amos explains, “In our county, a lot of the schools are older, between 40 and 70 years old in many cases. So, they’re all coming due here at the same time, and there’s a real need. The county is growing and with growth comes expanded needs for schools and children needing classrooms.” Four years ago, the county and the school system joined forces to plan $250 million in county bonds which have been used to construct new middle schools and will continue to be used to improve existing schools and build new ones. As the county grows, there is an effort to be ahead of the necessary infrastructure needs in all departments, something which Amos admits can be challenging. “All of our departments are facing growth pressures, doing more with less in many cases. We’re actively engaging our departments to figure out what their needs are over the next five years related to our strategic plan, to see how the vision laid out by our board aligns with the needs of the community.” Currently, Gaston County is working on an update to its strategic plan, which will lead the county through the next 5 years. The plan will be divided into three focus areas: economic development and planned growth, recreation, culture, and lifelong learning, and community health, safety, and well-being. “Those are the three guideposts that we’re using to structure all of the initiatives into the future,” says Amos. A community-wide vision is also helping to guide the county’s approach to economic development. Eagle elaborates, “This touches the business community, all of the local governments in the county, non-profits, religious sectors, so this is truly a community-wide effort so that we can understand how we want to position Gaston County and how we can best work together to achieve that vision.” In summary, Rhoten offers, “This county is full of