Ron Smith, City Manager, City of Statesville
Ron Smith, city manager of the city of Statesville, spoke with Invest: about its progress during a rapid period of economic development in the city. He also touched on the upcoming challenges and opportunities the whole of Iredell County faces as Statesville and its neighbors look to continue cultivating the growth the region has been experiencing.
What have been the most significant milestones for the city over the past year?
Statesville is a medium sized city about 45 minutes north of Charlotte. As housing and land prices rise in Charlotte, we’re fortunate to be on everyone’s radar as a potential development location. Just being noticed is an achievement for Statesville. Growth had been stagnant until about four years ago. Now, we have roughly 7,500 homes in the entitlement process, and our goal is to properly manage this growth. Previous leaders have put in place water, sewer and infrastructure capacity that a lot of the rest of the region does not have. That’s another reason that people are really looking at Statesville. Our current population is just over 30,000 people. To recruit the things our residents really want, we’re hoping to see continued population growth, with the accompanying disposable income, to attract more higher-end retail.
What challenges are you facing in maintaining quality of life amid the city’s growth?
Let’s look at Mooresville in contrast to Statesville. Since the 1990s, Mooresville has grown incrementally and is now a town of 60,000-plus people. In Statesville, our growth has happened very quickly since COVID. The county residents are having real issues with the density that has come along with the growth. However, as the manager, I like to see this growth because it allows us to diversify our economy and grow without putting growing costs solely on our existing residents. The Council established a new land development plan two years ago that uses a system of growth tiers. What we’re trying to do is follow the plan in order to establish a manageable growth rate.
How is the city positioning itself to attract new companies or help local businesses expand?
We’ve been fortunate that we have a strong Economic Development Corporation (EDC), that continually promotes the entire county for business and employment growth. We have the water, sewer, and road infrastructure to make that growth fairly easy. We also provide incentives. On the retail, office, and commercial side, we’re still looking for that increased population base to attract new businesses. In our downtown, we have an upper-market rate apartment project just about to kick off, which will draw more people to our downtown. I see this as a microcosm of the economic ecosystem developing in the city.
How do you plan on expanding employment or the labor force?
We are working with the EDC, local community college, and school system to prepare students who may not be going to a four-year college, and who are interested in entering a trade or advanced manufacturing. That’s been great for our employment base and training. We want to get jobs here by recruiting the industries, but we also need to have robust training programs and provide attainable housing to support employment growth.
What is the importance of working with organizations like the EDC and the Statesville Chamber of Commerce?
The Statesville Chamber of Commerce is our voice within the business community, actively advocating with city decision-makers on behalf of residents and businesses. We encourage their engagement to help us stay informed. We work closely with the EDC and consider them an arm of our staff. Several years ago, as a county, we made the conscious decision to consolidate economic development efforts between the different towns, and we believe we’re better working together. I believe that a rising tide floats all boats and if it’s a win anywhere else in our county, it’s a win for Statesville.
What advice would you give to businesses or residents looking to become part of Statesville’s community?
If you’re living in Statesville, supporting local businesses will help grow our economy and tax base and help improve the city. Participate in local programs like parks and recreation or join civic boards. Statesville is still a relatively small city with a strong sense of community that you may not find in a large city.
What are your top priorities for Statesville over the next few years, and how do you envision economic and community development unfolding?
We have one of the best locations for reinvestment at Broad Street and I-77. Seeing progress there will help set the tone for other reinvestment and development in Statesville. That’s a small piece, but a big part of improving our city’s image. Also, we need to manage the growth in the right way. I think we’re doing that through a very strong planning department. Managing growth is essential; our staff works to ensure new developments do not negatively impact existing infrastructure. The rapid growth will also impact our school system, so we also need to maintain our relationship with the school system to work on plans to handle these changes responsibly.
Right now, the infrastructure of utilities is the lifeblood of this region. It’s something every community in the Charlotte region is facing as we deal with the rapid growth occurring, and it’s important to manage it in the right way.
