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Notes from Work Group on Supporting Workers <br />What are the future needs of the county work force? <br />- Business: kinds of services businesses lacking <br />- Survey <br />-Needs (Affordable housing, Child caze)? <br />Quantify (with statistics) <br />Lack of affordable child care <br />Housing needs <br />Transportation needs <br />Understand the data: <br />o Outgoing commuters -why <br />o Incoming commuters -why <br />Adult care (Seniors?) <br />General affordability <br />Fixed incomes <br />Increasing taxes <br />Notes from Work Group on Infrastructure <br />^ Elements of physical infrastructure: <br />o Water and sewer for mid and northern parts of the county - need a regional approach <br />o Electric utilities - no regional approach <br />o Alternative and regulaz transportation <br />o Development of Carolina North -knowledge infrastructure <br />o Information networks <br />o Good markets for local farmers <br />^ Social /communication infrastructure -you need this to support the physical <br />infrastructure among business, govt,, educational institutions and regions. <br />^ Need a collective vision -need infrastructure to support economic and social goals. <br />^ Other plans do not address growing tax base, etc. instead they focus on constraints to <br />growth, <br />^ Are we thinking too locally? Orange county is much more alike than most places in <br />North Carolina. We need a county strategy. There will be different expressions in each <br />town but the county needs to address the gaps and broader issues. <br />^ Named economic development commissions (EDCs) -are they designed to segment? <br />Yes, they are designed to focus industry/businesses in certain areas. They are not the <br />problem, the issue is the lack of implementation.. <br />^ How is this plan going to be different? We can put the plan together but we need the buy- <br />in of town councils, etc, or nothing will change. Need public action by a body that may <br />not be committed to economic development and the strategic plan. <br />^ The plan should take into account the realities it faces -what can be accomplished? <br />Where is the compromise? <br />17 <br />