Business View Magazine | October 2020

243 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 NASH COUNTY , NORTH CAROL INA in-house before, we had a lot of success,” says Davis. “We’re ready to try it again.” The Board of Commissioners sets the strategic direction and fiscal priorities of Nash County. Its existence is intended to encourage business and job growth, and to improve quality of life for its residents and taxpayers. “Thanks to Chairman Davis and the Board, we now have a well-funded economic development program curated by an experienced staff,” says Andy Hagy, Director of Economic Development. “We’ve got 100 percent support from the board of commissioners.” In fact, Nash County has already initiated what Hagy hopes will be an aggressive, year-long digital marketing campaign that could go a long way towards sparking conversations about what the county’s bright future might promise. “The campaign will focus on our location between Research Triangle and I-95, on our quality of life, our local businesses, and our industrial properties,” Hagy explains. “Within six months, For Nash County, a thriving community of 94,000 just 30 miles east of Raleigh, situated on the border of North Carolina’s Piedmont and Coastal Plain divisions, the recent decision to go in- house on economic development after a 20-year partnership with adjoining Edgecombe County, stems from the desire to facilitate a range of economic development and innovation ideas in order to ensure the growth of local businesses and further opportunities for its citizens. Robbie Davis, Chairman of the Nash County Board of Commissioners, acknowledges it’s a venture that’s been a long time coming. “We made the decision last year, after considering it for about four years, to formulate our own Economic Development Department and go on our own which we did in January of this year,” says Davis. It’s a delivery strategy that had served the County well for many years, prior to teaming up with neighboring Edgecombe. “When we did it