Orange County NC Website
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people that live in Orange County work outside of Orange County. He said that it is a mistake <br /> to focus on just local businesses and avoid the regional businesses. He said that there is a <br /> vision for Orange County, but they need to look at the intersection of what Orange County <br /> wants and what wants Orange County. They need to go after businesses that want to be <br /> here. He said that the entities absolutely need to cooperate and coordinate, but the economic <br /> development professionals need to have the tools to bring businesses here. <br /> Aaron Nelson said that he has been watching for ten years and this is the best <br /> economic development team he has seen. He suggested having elected officials to note four <br /> business clusters and working on these. He also suggested focusing on intersection of <br /> interest. He said that there is a solar company right now who wants to open a warehouse in <br /> Orange County to manufacture panels. He asked whose job it is right now to recruit this <br /> business. <br /> James Harris said that Orange County also needs appropriate zoning because <br /> businesses will not come if it is too difficult. <br /> Dwight Bassett said that Chapel Hill is at a critical point and needs to increase its <br /> absorption rate. There is currently 200,000 square feet of retail on the market and built. There <br /> is over 600,000 square feet of approved office space. Currently in the planning stages there is <br /> several hundred thousand square feet of retail that is being considered. He said that there <br /> needs to be a lot of marketing to attract these businesses. <br /> Jim Norton said that he has heard from the County Commissioners that until the <br /> elected officials decide to commit resources, they can talk about it forever, but they need <br /> money for the economic development. <br /> Jim Parker said that it is important to be flexible, but you also have to realize that there <br /> are other things that economic development may need and the ordinance rewrite is good to <br /> streamline the permitting and zoning process. Development in Orange County is indicative of <br /> the process that has been in place for years. He said that the UDO will make this process <br /> more flexible and streamlined. He asked if there was a set meeting for the economic <br /> development professionals to meet on a regular basis with other stakeholders to exchange <br /> ideas. He said that it is important for the Town of Hillsborough to be a part of this process. <br /> Margaret Cannel) said that she came to work in Orange County in 1997 and then the <br /> EDC later, and one of her first jobs was to look at what kinds of businesses they want to <br /> attract, and that has not been done yet. She said that times have changed and the County <br /> needs to change also. She said that one of the biggest stumbling blocks is not having a <br /> streamlined permitting process. <br /> Brad Broadwell said that the Orange County Economic Development Department <br /> recently did a survey to businesses in the community and 90% of businesses that responded <br /> were locally-owned businesses. He said that this will not change anytime soon. <br /> Aaron Nelson said that Orange County residents spend $1.5 billion every year on retail <br /> and half a billion of it is spent outside of Orange County. He said that recruiting a big box <br /> retailer would not compete with the small local retailers. <br /> Commissioner Yuhasz said that he has become frustrated with hearing the problems <br /> but not having any suggestions for resolutions. He said that they should create some formal <br /> cooperative organization between all of the economic development departments and interests <br /> so they can create a set of suggestions for all elected officials with what needs to be done to <br /> change this situation. <br /> Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the agenda, item E, "Should we modify the <br /> current County ED Advisory Board structure to enhance our ability to function in today's <br /> environment?" He said that he finds this whole conversation very frustrating because <br /> everyone is in agreement, but doing their own thing. He listed the entities —four municipalities, <br /> Orange County, two universities, Durham Tech, and the Visitor's Bureau. He said that he <br />