Iredell County Economic Development Corporation Celebrates Five-Year Anniversary Highlighting Significant Investment and Growth since 2018
Iredell Economic Development Corporation hosted more than 250 business leaders, elected officials, and community partners at their 2023 Annual Meeting and Five-Year Anniversary Celebration on September 26 at the Charles Mack Citizen Center in Mooresville, NC. The event proved to be the largest Annual Meeting since the Iredell EDC Leadership made the strategic decision to unify economic development efforts into one county-wide organization in 2018.
Iredell EDC shared some of their considerable highlights from the last five years including 109 new and expanding announcements, representing $2 billion in investment with the creation of 5,394 jobs, and occupying 16.7 million SF as well as significant private investment in real estate across Iredell resulting in 13.2 million SF in announced industrial product development. Additionally, Ted Abernathy, Managing Partner of Economic Leadership shared “A Comprehensive Look at our National and Local Economy, Iredell County & North Carolina’s Competitiveness, Future Trends, and Opportunities.”
As a part of their presentation, Iredell EDC released their 2023 Annual Report detailing highlights from the past year as well as metrics across the county in terms of economic development growth. Since 2018, the population in Iredell County has grown by 10% from approximately 178,000 residents to 196,000 residents. Sales tax revenue has increased by 58%, and the amount of new property tax revenue increased by 22%. The average wage in the county has increased by 35% from $47,842 (2018) to $64,433 (2023) with Iredell having the 4th highest average wage by county in the state of North Carolina.
“Our economic development position is stronger than ever,” stated Bob Palmes, 2021-2023 Chair. “Our combined efforts to support existing industry, generate new investment, and market our community have positioned Iredell County as a leader in the region and state on many fronts.”
As out-going Chair, Bob Palmes formally transitioned the leadership of the organization to the 2023-2024 Chair, David Alexander, President of J.T. Alexander and Sons. “I look forward to serving as chair of this incredible organization,” David Alexander shared. “We are fortunate to work in a community with public and private sector leaders who understand the importance of working together to achieve better outcomes.”
The Annual Meeting was the second major event of the day. Iredell EDC kicked off the day by hosting the Iredell Ready Workforce Forum and introduced a newly designed workforce dashboard, www.iredellready.com, that will that serve as a “one-stop shop” resource to help students and residents, kindergarten through retirement, identify opportunities to pursue career pathways and employment with industry in Iredell County. Additionally, the Iredell Ready dashboard will serve to further strengthen partnerships with industry by supporting their recruitment, retention, and pipeline development efforts to build a skilled workforce.
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