2 min read August 2023 — The Town of Fuquay-Varina is in the business of growth and it is planning for the future with $300 million worth of investments to improve its wastewater, water and sewer systems as well as 17 new transportation projects that are underway, said Mayor Blake Massengill in an interview with Invest:.
What are the unique strengths and advantages that the city offers to businesses and residents?
We are uniquely located and we have a great talent pool of residents. We have a lot of qualified employees, great universities around us and great manufacturing companies that are located here. We are a growing area and people want to come to live here. That helps us to attract talent for our existing businesses.
According to a recent survey, 47% of our folks have a college degree, and the education system here is educating a very diverse group of folks within a 20 mile radius. We have eight research universities and Wake Tech, which is the largest community college system in North Carolina. Both our local high schools provide career pathways in information technology and advanced manufacturing. In terms of educating and providing emerging technologies talent, we are hitting on a lot of cylinders and we will continue to keep pace with what the industries are recruiting by listening to the market.
What are the industries or sectors with the highest growth in the region?
We focus on private areas of economic development. One is high-end manufacturing. A local company, Berk-Tek, expanded its high-end manufacturing facility. They invested $27 million to double the size of their plant footprint and added 100 new jobs. At the same time, we recruited CCL Label, a labeling company. They invested over $34 million to create 150 new jobs. We also have new retail companies that came to town, like TJ Maxx. There is also a big commercial high-end retail development, Gold Leaf Crossing, that is breaking ground by year-end. That’s nearly 1 million square feet. Other companies include Aviator Brewery, which is an international beer company, is headquartered here.
What is the strategy to promote small businesses?
We have a great economic development policy toolkit that’s continued to pay off. There are several examples of small businesses. Aviator Brewing Company is still a small business. They have 100 employees. They are expanding their building to a new brewery facility, distillery and entertainment complex in one of our Downtown districts.
We partner with the Fuquay-Varina Chamber of Commerce. They look at the town’s jobs, our economic development and the big picture things while also partnering with some of our small businesses here. Our economic development director works closely with the chamber and started a program for people to provide leadership and assistance to some of these small businesses that need some guidance. In February, the economic development director hosted a small Business Connect event that connected small and startup businesses with resources, such as marketing and finance. That event attracted 80 entrepreneurs and small businesses.
What do you think are the biggest challenges that the business community is facing?
When I talk to local business leaders, the No. 1 concern is finding highly qualified employees. We are talking to the surrounding universities so that they understand what the local businesses’ needs are from students who are graduating.
Are there any specific infrastructure or transportation improvement plans underway that will impact businesses and economic development further?
We’re in the growth business here. We have to be planning for our future. We have made more investments in infrastructure in the past couple of years than has ever been done in our history. For example, we’re expanding our water and wastewater treatment plants by partnering with the surrounding communities. For the water and sewer projects, we are talking about over $300 million worth of investments. In the transportation infrastructure investments, we have 17 projects that are going into construction between this year and the next two years.
For more information, visit:
