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7 <br /> Attachment 2a-1 <br /> Economic Development Reports from County and Towns <br /> ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REPORT—ORANGE COUNTY <br /> Agricultural Economic Development Initiatives <br /> (a) The Orange County Food Council has been formed with the intent to build a local food <br /> system that ensures health, sustainable agriculture and access for all local residents. <br /> (b) Piedmont Food & Agriculture Processing Center(PFAP) continues to incubate new food <br /> processing businesses, and now offers expansion potential at the County's newly renovated <br /> Cedar Grove Park & Community Center. <br /> (c) Thel9th annual Orange County Agriculture Summit is being planned for Feb. 27, 2017. <br /> (d) Efforts are underway to have the County potentially lease the farming training facility known <br /> as the Breeze Farm, and create a public-private funding partnership to take the Breeze facility <br /> to a higher level of effectiveness. <br /> (e) The Orange County Agriculture Grant program has helped many local farms expand their <br /> production operations. The program has assisted 30 local farms with $228,000.00 in funding <br /> the past 12 months. <br /> Tourism Promotion by the Orange County Visitors Bureau <br /> (a) Collaborated with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture to develop a new smart <br /> media App, called "North Carolina Farms" that will highlight Orange County's fresh food <br /> markets, farm tours, and "pick your own"produce farms. Orange County is the inaugural <br /> North Carolina County to be featured statewide. <br /> (b) Launched the "All Are Welcome" LGBT friendly campaign which won a platinum award <br /> from Destination Management Association of North Carolina. <br /> (c) Served 12,000 walk-in visitors and distributed 50,000 visitor guides and maps for the year. <br /> (d) Services provided to the Towns included supporting Hillsborough's Handmade Puppet <br /> Parade, Carrboro's Music Festival, and Chapel Hill's Festival. <br /> (e) Currently launching the North American Travel Journalists Association conference that will <br /> bring 100 national travel writers to the County next spring 2017. <br /> (f) Since first being established in 1992, the Visitors Bureau has successfully increased the level <br /> of direct visitor spending by 186%, to a current $185 million annually. <br /> Small Business Promotion <br /> (a) The County's small business loan and grant programs, all funded by the 1/4 cent sales tax <br /> proceeds for economic development(called Article 46 funds), supported 96 small businesses <br /> and farms with over $1 million in financial assistance in the past 12 months. These <br /> important small firms were located in all 3 municipalities in the County. <br /> Article 46-Funded Financial Program #of Firms Assisted Funding Support Provided <br /> •Agriculture Economic Development Grant 30 $228,060.00 <br /> • Small Business Investment Grant 58 $335,715.00 <br /> • Small Business Loan Program 8 $529,000.00 <br /> 96 $1,092,775.00 <br />