Matthew Rhoten, County Manager, Gaston County
In an interview with Invest:, Matthew Rhoten, county manager of Gaston County, discussed how Gaston County prioritizes diversification in business and housing to sustain growth. Emphasizing accountability and community partnerships, the county aims for strategic development while preserving its identity, ensuring efficient use of taxpayer dollars, and enhancing infrastructure to attract investment.
Given the rapid growth in business and population in Gaston County, what are the top priorities you’ve identified to ensure sustainable development amid these changes?
I think a lot about diversification when considering our priorities. It’s essential to ensure we’re varied in what we bring in and grow. Gaston County is known for single-tenant industrial development, but it’s important to ask, what types of development are we fostering?
We’ve worked on creating clusters where multiple businesses operate together, often using local suppliers. This approach ensures we’re not solely focused on industrial development but are incorporating other elements, like back-office components, alongside it.
Retail isn’t our primary driver for recruitment, but we continually seek to enhance our retail spaces. Retail contributes to a sense of place and provides amenities for residents.
On the housing front, we’re keeping in mind diversity as we grow. It’s critical to maintain the county’s identity and be selective about what we bring in. With limited land, we need to ensure every decision aligns with the best interests of our citizens.
Do you feel retail development results organically from population growth tied to industrial clusters?
You can’t entice retail if it doesn’t want to be somewhere. Retail is heavily tied to demographics, specifically population and median income levels.
As the county grows in population and income, retailers become more interested in investing in the community. They expect strong returns based on the success of existing retailers and the local market potential.
While retail growth is an organic process that can’t be directly controlled, the county’s decisions indirectly influence it. Strategic planning can create the conditions for retail to flourish.
How will the new performance dashboard keep the community accountable to these long-term goals?
That’s one of our core values. We want to be accountable to our citizens and make sure that we’re providing them a good return on their investment. They choose to live here and pay taxes here, so our work is to give them confidence by being transparent on our goals, objectives, and measures that we’re trying to achieve. We want to celebrate those successes and highlight the areas where we still need to continue working and developing.
The key is to define priorities and record where we are doing a good job. We need to make sure that we’re funding our priorities appropriately, and identify the areas that aren’t a priority. That way we will have the opportunity to take action towards stopping some tasks, outsource things, work towards goals from different perspectives, and ultimately save money for our taxpayers.
It’s our responsibility to make sure that we’re being good stewards, and we want to make sure that we’re having the biggest impact possible.
What role do community partnerships and civil society play in addressing challenges in the county?
One of the great things about Gaston County is that we have a community that’s invested in making a difference, and our responsibility is to empower them to do community work. We find ways to work together and make the biggest impact on people’s lives.
There are systemic issues in all communities, and it would be very naive to think that one organization or government entity is going to solve all of those problems. We have to figure out the strengths of each part and find a way to partner together to target the citizens’ needs.
We’re trying to be good stewards of dollars, and we are open to find new innovative ways to do things. And if we can have a bigger impact and save taxpayer dollars at the same time, then why wouldn’t we do that?
Would you speak to any large infrastructure projects that are adding to Gaston’s appeal for outside investors?
We’ve had a ton of industrial development over the last two years and have had more square footage of industrial development in Gaston County than in the last 60 years. That shows the massive growth that’s taking place.
A lot of investment has come from the business community and it’s increasingly diversified, from industrial development, warehouse space, office space development, along with a new hotel that opened recently.
From an infrastructure standpoint, we’re investing especially in water and sewer projects, connecting to some municipal systems that are going to have a positive impact on people’s lives and hopefully spur growth as well. Additionally, we’re developing a public safety campus to consolidate functions under one roof. This move not only improves efficiency but also creates opportunities for downtown growth and development.
What unique challenges is Gaston County addressing, and what are your top priorities?
One of the things that we’re trying to balance is the citizens’ needs and services while at the same time giving them a good return on investment for living here. Trying to make sure the cost is as low as possible, while being as efficient and effective as possible in providing services.
I think it’s a very interesting and exciting time in Gaston County because we’re at this inflection point where the Charlotte area is mostly grown out, and Gaston is still developing and growing. We have an opportunity to be very intentional about how Gaston County grows and how it develops while, at the same time, making sure that we maintain Gaston’s uniqueness.
We are seeing a lot of growth in the eastern portion of the county from Charlotte and trying to maintain a good, positive, strategic growth that meets our long-term needs, while preserving that identity that we’ve had for a long time. There’s a challenge to balance all that and figure out future steps.
In the last 10 years, we’ve had developments that I wouldn’t have thought were going to happen. Investors are interested in Gaston County and our downtowns, allowing them to blossom and grow. For example, we’ve had a lot of renovation of some existing spaces that have turned into apartment complexes.
From a population standpoint, do you feel there’s a good mix of long-time residents and newcomers?
I think there’s a good balance. The eastern portion of the county is welcoming in more people that may even be spilling over from Charlotte. But they’re quickly adapting and identifying with the long-time residents.
We’ve got a really good mix of a population here, and people that care about the community and want to see it thrive. Everyone understands that growth is coming. It’s here. But they’re looking at how we are going to manage that growth and be respectful of the existing context.
We can be very selective and all of our residents appreciate that.
What’s your outlook for Gaston County in terms of economic growth and development over the next five years?
This is a really exciting time. The county has good partnerships with organizations in the community, and I want to continue to grow those partnerships with our nonprofit agencies, our other intergovernmental agencies, and municipalities in the county. We’re all aligned on what we’re trying to accomplish.
Over the next five to 10 years, you’re going to see more growth in the county along with diversification of housing, which is critically important. We need high-end apartment housing, high-end single-family housing and also affordable workforce housing. We’re doing that with Osage Mill in Bessemer City as a workforce housing development, while at the same time, we have Chronicle Mill in Belmont, which is a high-end development.
We are making sure to invest in the community and being responsive to the community’s needs. You’ll see Gaston continue to grow and expand with a new perspective in the Charlotte region in the way that we provide services and respond to our citizens, which will hopefully be better than ever.
