Ramseur STEP Leadership Team

Town of Ramseur Ramseur STEP Leadership Team NC STEP Economic Development Strategic Plan and Implementation Strategy

I. Introduction

The North Carolina Small Towns Economic Prosperity program (NC STEP) brings a comprehensive revitalization effort to communities, especially those challenged by economic hardships due to changes in the economy and/or natural disasters. It is part of a larger initiative of the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center called the Small Towns Initiative. State leaders recognize that North Carolina’s small towns serve a major role in the economic, social and cultural well being of the state as a whole. Even with the rapid growth of urban centers, North Carolina remains a state of small towns: over 475 towns have populations of fewer than 10,000 people, accounting for 86 percent of the state’s municipalities.

The Small Towns Initiative and NC STEP are based on the belief that North Carolina’s towns have the opportunity to embrace a new future that –

 Values the best of the past;  Preserves and enhances important resources;  Seeks out new economic opportunities; and  Respects, involves and lifts up all the people who live in these towns.

The program has three primary goals:

(1) Support economic recovery and revitalization through job creation, business activity and leveraged private and public investments; (2) Implement a comprehensive model of local leadership capacity building, technical assistance and grant making; and (3) Provide vital information to develop public policies that support long-term investment in the economic vitality of North Carolina’s small towns.

STEP towns are chosen based on level of economic distress, geographical distribution, population size and diversity, management structure, resource availability and degree of readiness. Towns must show an understanding of the importance of an inclusive community leadership team and demonstrate the potential for economic recovery and revitalization and economic transition.

1 By participating in the program, towns receive:

(1) Coaching assistance to identify critical needs and community assets, develop potential economic development initiatives, prioritize projects and seek out technical and financial resources; (2) Planning funds ($25,000) to use in the planning phase for assessments, feasibility studies, coordination and travel, and other pertinent activities; (3) Implementation funds ($100,000) to implement priority projects developed through the planning process; (4) Opportunities for training workshops and shared learning; and (5) Priority consideration in other Rural Center grants programs.

For more detail on the Requirements and Planning Process of participating in the STEP program, please refer to Appendix A.

II. Town Participation – Ramseur Becomes a STEP Community

Ramseur entered the STEP program in June 2010 as one of eleven towns in the third cohort of STEP towns. In its application, Ramseur summarized its desire to be in the program with this statement: “Our interest in the NC STEP program stems from a humbling realization that that we do not presently have the knowledge and tools to effectively promote economic development in the Ramseur community.”

The town also expressed that it wanted to “put residents back to work, diversify and grow our economic base, identify the means of capitalizing on existing water and sewer capacity, identify and quantify our assets, develop a strong base of support within the local business community through the creation of a strong community-wide merchants association…” As the STEP planning process progressed, this is exactly what happened – expanding and strengthening the leadership team and producing broad-based projects.

III. Applying the STEP Process – Ramseur Engage

KICK-OFF The Kick-Off is an opportunity to celebrate and emphasize what makes the community special and to engage its citizens in the STEP process. Ramseur held its Kick-Off event August 14, 2010 at Ramseur Lake to coincide with their “Summer Concert Series.” Mayors from Star and Siler City attended the Kick-Off to show support for Ramseur. Some of the positive reflections from the Kick-Off include:

 A program that provided an increased sense of community  Elected Officials from the region in attendance  Setting (a family affair)  Venue (the lake)  Outreach and Marketing

2  Boy Scouts (assisting with parking)  The Team/Committee  The STEP Video experience

LEADERSHIP TEAM MISSION STATEMENT AND COMMUNITY VISION The first step in the planning process was to ensure that the Leadership Team and the community clearly understand both the Team’s source of authority (Ramseur Town Board) and its responsibilities (to create an economic development strategic plan and implementation strategy). The Team named itself the NC STEP Leadership Team of Ramseur and developed the following mission statement:

“The Ramseur Leadership Team is a diverse group of concerned citizens united in common goals to promote the economic growth, development and livelihood of the Town of Ramseur and surrounding areas. We are committing to embracing change, learning from our past triumphs and mistakes, and to preserving a friendly hometown atmosphere for all community members.”

The next task was to visualize the desired and possible future for the Ramseur community by asking the question, “What do you want the community to be like 10 to 20 years from now?” Several dimensions were taken into account, including the physical appearance of the downtown, mix of businesses, population size and mix, income levels and sources of income, public facilities, recreation opportunities and infrastructure, and any other aspects of the community considered important. The Leadership Team drafted the following vision statement:

“Ramseur is a model community that is vibrant, growing, adaptable, family-oriented and self-sufficient where community members are connected and engaged and work together to celebrate the culturally diverse heritage that makes the town an attractive destination for visitors and for families.”

COMMUNITY PROFILE Part of the process of taking charge of a community’s destiny is developing an understanding of its uniqueness and diversity. The community profile is designed to document a town’s assets, opportunities, appearance and challenges in words and pictures. These are combined into a document that present a clear picture of the town’s defining characteristics. The profile provides a “first look” of the town from the leadership team’s perspective and makes the group look at their town with a critical eye. In compiling the profile, leadership team members look for the answers to questions like: Who are we? What are our defining characteristics? What do we value in our small town? What are we proud of? What are our weaknesses? What would attract investment to our small town? What current situations, issues, policies or problems would discourage new investment?

Ramseur’s Community Profile is found in Appendix B.

3 COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT The community assessment is an examination of the social, political, economic, demographic and environmental conditions within a community or region. This process involves economic development experts, local and regional community leaders, local businesses and residents. Dozens of development factors are considered and addressed. Economic “engines” and strategies evolve out of the assessment based on priorities of the community.

An important step in this process is the understanding that a town does not exist in a vacuum. As the town embarks on developing its economic development strategy, it needs to understand that it is planning in context. In North Carolina, at the least, a town resides in a county; is part of a regional economic development partnership; and is served by a council of governments. It could also be within the service area of a regional university’s community and economic development outreach office. All of these groups engage in strategic planning, and it is important for a town to know what kind of planning is going on around them, what these strategic plans contain and emphasize – and to be keyed in.

In October of 2010, Bonnie Renfro, President of the Randolph County Economic Development Corporation and Ginger Booker, Interim Director of the Piedmont Triad Council of Governments provided a summary of the economic development strategies employed by their agencies. Their presentations informed the leadership team, served as a foundation for future relationships and partnerships, and put Ramseur’s strategic planning into a broader context.

The complete Community Assessment is in Appendix C. Highlights of the economic and demographic information for Ramseur follow.

A significant part of the community assessment contains an economic overview of Ramseur. An economic and demographic scan was prepared for Ramseur. See Appendix D for the complete scan.

Ramseur, with 1,741 people (July 2008 State Data Center estimate), is a small town in Randolph County. Ramseur is intersected by US 64, NC highway 49 and NC highway 22, and is approximately 8 miles from Asheboro, the largest town in the county with a 2008 estimated population of 24,827. Randleman (4,447 population in 2008) and Franklinville (1,402 population) are also in close proximity to Asheboro. The other two larger towns in the county, Archdale (9,442 in Randolph and 342 in Guilford) and Trinity (6,978) are suburbs of High Point. According to estimates by the State Data Center, Ramseur grew in population by 9.6% from 2000 to 2008 and Randolph County grew by 8.1%, while the Greensboro-High Point MSA, which includes Guilford, Randolph and Rockingham Counties, grew by 8.9%. The 2008 population of Randolph County was 140,980. Although 30 miles from Greensboro, Ramseur is part of the MSA labor market area. However, given its location, one would not expect retail and service activities in Ramseur to draw customers from the core of the MSA. The Ramseur economy is assumed to be significantly influenced by the economic activity in Asheboro and to a lesser extent by the economic activity in Guilford and Rockingham Counties.

4 Rockingham and Randolph Counties are part of the Greensboro-High Point MSA because of each county’s commuting relationship with Guilford County, and not because of any close economic relationship between the two of them. However, the importance of proximity to the Greensboro urban market is illustrated by the fact that Randleman grew by 25% over the eight-year period.

Generally, rural counties experience a high rate of retail expenditure “leakage” to nearby urban counties, while resort counties may pull in retail expenditures by attracting tourists. Counties with a large inflow of shoppers, whether tourists or regional residents, will have higher sales per capita and higher sales as a percent of personal income than the state average, while counties with outflow of shoppers will have lower numbers. The numbers for Ramseur are low, as expected, but they do reflect potential for reducing the leakage of income by increasing retail trade at home. Additionally, given that Ramseur is located in close proximity to the 4 major highways, many residents work outside of the city limits because it is easy to commute to the Triad or Triangle for work. This would mean however, that the town would need to increase the opportunities to access the affordable housing stock in Ramseur which is currently underdeveloped

For more detail, refer to Tables 8 & 9 in the Community Assessment in Appendix C.

STRATEGY IDENTIFICATION A matrix summarizing community assets and constraints was developed as part of the Community Assessment and served as the springboard for brainstorming possible economic development strategies for the town (The complete matrices are in Appendix C). The Team was asked to look for commonalities and overlapping themes that stood out to them and identify any strategic directions or themes from their insights. To think about the viability of potential strategies, several questions were put to the Leadership Team: What’s possible for the town to accomplish? What are the opportunities presented by the strategy (i.e., what assets support it)? What are the weaknesses of it (i.e., what barriers constrain it)? Who is the target audience?

Almost all small towns are concerned about the existing business sector, especially in their downtown areas. Ramseur is no exception; however, not only is the Ramseur Leadership Team concerned about helping those already in business to stay in business and possibly expand, they are also very interested in entrepreneurship, small business development and supporting the leadership development from the business community. Thus, business development including supporting small existing business and growing new business opportunities was identified as a strategy. To support this decision, many resources are available to help with project development, such as Randolph Community College, Randolph County Economic Development Corporation and the Institute for Rural Entrepreneurship at the NC Rural Center.

The Leadership Team noticed the inter-connection between two strategic pathways to growing a local economy: retain and grow existing businesses (this is illustrated by the number of local retails dollar spent in Randolph County – in 2008-09, the taxable retail sales per capita in Randolph County amounted to $5,235. Sales per capita for the state

5 were $10,804. Only 18.4% of the 2008 personal income accounted for the taxable retail sales in the county.) and improving local linkages (specifically decreasing the amount of leakage by encouraging more local buying). Abundant assets were identified to support Ramseur and its neighboring towns as being desirable places for newcomers and long time residents to live and enjoy a high quality of life.

Ramseur’s vision statement and the strategies touched upon above imply a number of target audiences or markets for its economic development efforts. The area is poised to capitalize on its assets, overcome barriers and to reinvigorate itself, if it advances its strategies, develops relevant projects and pursues them with sufficient intensity.

RAMSEUR’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC PLAN (STRATEGY AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT) The Ramseur’s STEP Leadership Team adopted two (2) economic development strategies. The process involved Team members dividing into subcommittees to draft a strategy statement including the strategy’s issues for implementation and to identify, develop and propose projects designed to fulfill the goals of their respective strategy. Each subcommittee vetted its projects among themselves, and those projects with the most promise were brought before the whole Leadership Team at its monthly meeting for further development and discussion. The viable projects meeting the approval of the complete Team comprise the projects for STEP funding or in some cases partial STEP funding. Each strategy that has been identified is connected to the other in a synergistic way, building on the spirit and intention of the Leadership Team vision for a more economically viable Ramseur. It is not uncommon for the team to develop projects that are similar, but “live” in different strategies.

Because community development and quality of life issues fall within and overlap strategies, each subcommittee would include projects in these areas. Projects within the scope of education and workforce development, not-for-profit organization building and expansion, recreation and entertainment, physical infrastructure, attractiveness and appearance could evolve out of any of the subcommittees.

The strategies, their descriptive narrative, and summaries of their supporting projects follow. Detailed project templates are found in Appendix E.

Strategy 1: Bolstering Business Development: Sustaining What We Have and Growing Our Own

Ramseur has been a thriving agricultural and industrial community. The pioneer settlement began here in 1740 and the business that began the town of “Allen’s Falls” which developed into Ramseur began in 1840. For over a century businesses supported community projects and hired local people. Technology, relocation of businesses, and environmental issues changed the face of our community through the years. Our downtown has deteriorated along with the sense of pride in our community. We have evaluated our town and found numerous challenges that will not be easy to overcome. This process of evaluation and reflection has sparked new friendships and provided us all

6 with new information about area businesses and resources. We have maintained a realistic and open view of who we are currently and have begun to envision who we would like to become in the future as a town.

Our goals are simple as we seek to create a better place to live, work and play for all area citizens. Ramseur will promote a business-friendly culture that supports existing business, encourages entrepreneurship, and actively recruits new business development. We will develop leaders and improve our means of gathering area difference makers. We aim to identify various projects and then prioritize them based on available resources, funding and community support levels. We believe that by improving our town’s appearance we will help instill an improved sense of pride in who we are and how we work together. Although community pride has diminished, we do have pride in our town and ourselves and our history. We will build up this town one meeting, one project and one leader at a time.

STEP Projects addressing business development issues are as follows:

1. Building Renovation Incentives will work to increase the appeal of local businesses to residents and tourists. With the support of a matching grant program, the incentives will provide property and business owners with:  Façade Grants  Roof Grants  Interior Renovation Grants.

Cost for the matching grant program is: $13,500.

2. Small Business Assistance will focus on providing support to existing and developing businesses by providing access to space, training, leadership development and networking opportunities.  Communication – surveys, visits, networking  Business Information Packages  Develop and support training facility and RCC classes in Ramseur.  Encourage city-wide business organization (e.g. chamber, merchant’s assoc.).

The price tag for increasing communication and networking opportunities between existing and potential businesses is: $3,000.

3. New Business Development, Marketing, and Branding (Arnett Muldrow analysis) is a manifestation of the concern expressed by the STEP Leadership Team about the need to engage in a branding and marketing plan that would present Ramseur in a more appealing manner to both businesses and residents (those that currently exist and those that could potentially come to the town) and increase the revenue coming into the community. Part of the STEP planning grant funds were used to initiate the first phase of a branding and marketing analysis conducted by Arnett Muldrow and Associates (up to $10,000 of planning funds were used to pay for the analysis).

7 The market analysis conducted by Arnett Muldrow and Associates highlighted the fact that the biggest retail opportunities for Ramseur exist with general merchandise, restaurants, clothing and pharmacy. Some of the challenges include the lack of an educated labor force, lack of a customer base and a lack of modern services/uses.

Cost to implement recommendations from the market analysis: $18,000

4. Multi-tenant Business Center development will focus on the smaller businesses that cannot afford adequate space by providing a low-cost commercial cooperative model. There will also be space allotted for nonprofit organizations as well as dedicated “community space” accessible to residents and community-based groups.

Price tag for structural assessment and feasibility study is: $25,000.

Strategy 2 Reanimating Ramseur: A Place to Live and to Play

The demographics and the economy of Ramseur have dramatically changed over the past decade. The population is ageing, the industry has shifted and jobs left the community, there has been an increase in the Latino population, and young people who leave home are not returning to raise their families. If Ramseur is going to retain the population it has, attract young families to come “home,” and attract visitors, the town must develop a plan for Ramseur that will focus on family-centered services and attractions that increase the quality of life for all residents.

The Town of Ramseur and its surrounding community is steeped in history and a sense of community pride. As years have gone by, people and businesses have left the area and the appearance of our downtown area has deteriorated. We want to showcase our town by boosting the amenities we have that are family-centered, giving our business district a “face lift” and marketing our arts and historic district in a manner that will attract visitors of all ages, promote new economies, and encourage families to relocate to our area. By making the Town of Ramseur and the entire Ramseur community more aesthetically appealing, we hope to attract new residents and retain the current population as well. This strategy will help guide Ramseur and its current residents towards new and positive growth by maintaining the beauty and history of our town.

STEP projects designed to support a commuter focused strategy are:

1. Civic Infrastructure enhancement will improve the quality of life for the residents through the following projects:  Community forums  Childcare facility development  Rent to Own housing program  Citizen’s Academy  Farmer’s Market and Agribusiness collaborative  NC STEP nonprofit organization development

8 Cost for the civic infrastructure projects listed above: $18, 5000

2. Public Area Improvements will focus on increasing the connectivity between the natural resources and assets with the downtown business corridor (increasing the accessibility to businesses and generating more income).

Improvements include:  Streetscape Improvements  Deep River Clean-up and Access  Roller Mill Hill (park planning and design)  Greenway Connectivity to downtown business district

The Leadership Team also wanted to engage in a feasibility study around extending water and sewer to the traditionally African American community located adjacent to Hwy 49. The town has committed to identifying and securing 100% of the funds needed to design and implement the study.

Price Tag for increased connectivity to business district: $22,000

IV. Implementation

The Rural Center allows a STEP community a year to a maximum of a year and a half from the approval of its economic development strategic plan and implementation strategy and contract date to complete its projects.

Implementation involves the following:

 Monthly reports must be completed and received by the Rural Center in a timely fashion.  If problems, issues, or concerns arise, it is the responsibility of the town to notify the Rural Center STEP staff as soon as possible.  Accurate fiscal management is the responsibility of the town and will be monitored closely.  The Leadership/Implementation Team continues to meet on a monthly basis to share information, update each other on project progress, and to maintain momentum.  A facilitator is responsible for calling the meetings and developing an agenda; a recorder will take minutes.  New members are always encouraged to join and contribute to the team.  Once the initial projects funded through the STEP program are completed, the STEP community continues to work its economic development strategic plan, develop new projects and strive to realize its vision.

9 STEP Impact and Evaluation:

As projects are initiated and completed, the town must monitor their impact. The NC Rural Center will be tracking economic development indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of the program in the community.

Thus, STEP towns should keep in mind these questions as they implement their projects, develop additional projects, and document their results:

 Have members of the Leadership Team stepped up their leadership role in the community and are they making a difference?  Have new jobs and businesses resulted from these strategies and projects?  Are new private and public monetary investments coming into the town?  Are more dollars being spent in the community? Are people patronizing local businesses? Have any existing businesses expanded as a result of STEP?  Are residents seeing improvements in their community and letting local officials and citizen leaders know that they’re noticing a difference? and like it?  Is there more hope and energy in your community?  Are young people engaged in carrying out any of the STEP projects and offering ideas for additional projects?  Have new partnerships been formed? Is the town working more with the county or state government offices on economic development issues? Has the town engaged more with the regional council of governments? Have any town/private business partnerships formed around a particular opportunity or to solve a particular problem?  Has the town sought resources or assistance from regional organizations such as the community college or regional university?  Have any non-profit organizations in the community stepped up to tackle town issues or meet a need?  Does the town look better? Are more people aware of the town’s participation in the STEP program and see the correlation?

Through STEP, the Leadership Team has learned a process to vet new ideas, find resources and execute projects and initiatives. Over time, it is anticipated that the STEP process will continually evolve – that the Leadership Team will create new projects to be developed and implemented, and that the economic development strategies will be re- evaluated as progress is made and circumstances improve. This Team is expected to continue after STEP funds have been spent, these initial STEP projects described in this economic development strategic plan are completed, and the STEP program relationship with the Rural Center has lessened. With consistent and expanded leadership and the ability to bring more resources to the community, the town will increase its chances for prosperity and will see an improved quality of life for its current and future residents.