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year of change
2005 was a good year in Columbus County in terms of seeing a smattering of positive changes. There are tremendous opportunities for growth here in the near future as beach growth spills inland.
King tobacco is no longer the driving force in the economy as it once was, but with the tobacco buyout and an earnest effort in many quarters to change the face of the economy (the start of a biotech program at SCC is a good example), the future is beginning to look a little brighter.
Downtown Whiteville experienced a resurgence in 2005, the new prison will provide many new jobs in a couple of years, there were some positive changes at Columbus Regional Healthcare, Dole Foods expressed an interest in the county, more people are moving here from the beaches while others are buying property, and, perhaps best of all, there were no major hurricanes (other than a brush by Ophelia).
There are challenges, however, the biggest of which lies with county government, which needs new direction.
What can be done? We’ll play this broken record one more time:
The county staff needs to be stabilized with a strong management team. With all due respect, the county has an interim county manager and interim economic development director who don’t live in Columbus County. The county lost a good man in Assistant County Manager Darren Currie.
In the next few months, the commissioners would be wise to put on a full-court press to hire a top-notch manager and pay him or her what it takes. It will be money well spent in the long run.
When hired, let him or her assemble a staff, then, leave them alone to do their jobs.
It’s a simple management concept that works for boards -- both public and corporate -- across the land. It can work here too.