James McCoy                         
By D. Linsey Wisdom
News Editor

Macon County’s future could capitalize on one of its most unique and largely underutilized resources, the BalsamWest fiber network.

Economic Development Consultant James McCoy released his report on the state of the economy in Macon County and said the future may not rest solely on the second homeowners and fickle tourist seasons, but on bringing higher paying jobs to the region and raising everyone’s standard of living.

“We need to be doing a better job of getting better jobs to this area,” he said. “I am not saying tourists and second-homeowners aren’t important. They are. They should be. I am just saying that the common idea that we are completely reliant on them is over-stated.”

McCoy just completed his market analysis of the area, relying to some extent on statistical data through companies like the Employment Securities Commission and the Labor Department. In addition, he held 40 meetings with various “stakeholders” in the community – EDC members, public officials and major employers. Through these interviews he detailed Macon’s economic picture and drew from that a concept of where we could be going.

McCoy said Macon County is positioned to capitalize on strengths of being centrally located to several cities, like Greenville, Asheville, Atlanta and Chattanooga, offering unique infrastructure like the Balsam West, having low tax rates and remaining in a natural setting.
It makes this area ideal to attract companies in software and data mangement warehousing.

This aerial view shows the Whitmire property as a sea of open space in a highly developed area. Franklin Mayor Joe Collins is seeking help from the EDC to find a resource that can help design the space effectively to tie together and anchor the East Franklin area.

“It doesn’t hurt that we have a very large success story sitting right here in Drake Enterprises,” he said.

Data management is a growing industry where large companies find a place to warehouse, store and protect confidential information. The healthcare industry is a prime example of a company needing off-site storage and protection of this type of information.

‘What is essential to these companies is that they must have fast, reliable data lines,” he said. That is something Macon County can offer.

By 2016, analysts indicate there will be 822,000 new jobs in the data management industry and 3 million in healthcare – another industry McCoy identified as ideal for the area.

Another bonus to this type of industry is that the companies using remote storage are typically smaller, with around 30 employees, although some employ as much as 100 individuals.

“The labor force here just isn’t strong enough to support someone large, which is good. Everyone I met with said we don’t want to bring in the big guys,” McCoy said.

Part of the attraction of Macon County is its rural appeal and its natural setting. Through careful “economic gardening” the area can attract the smaller companies that need highly skilled professionals and pay higher salaries.

The county faces a major problem now in the fact that the workforce is aging, Young adults are moving off to nearby cities where salaries are more competitive and the median house may cost a little more, but is proportionately lower based on average salaries in the area.

Unemployment Rate Since 1990 - The average unemployment rate from 1990 to 2008 was 4.5 percent. The recent jump to 13 percent is extremely usual, and, McCoy said, all signs point to it being temporary. Because of the low availability of a labor force, Macon County would not likely attract large industrial plants to the area.

The income in the county is 25 percent below state averages and 34 percent below the national average. Comparing to nearby cities, workers in this area make 38 percent less than Charlotte workers, 25 percent less than Greenville, S.C. and 35 percent less than Atlanta, Ga.

Of the 16,641 people in the labor force, only about 2,000 of those serve a public entity – a surprising number compared to Jackson County where one-half of workers are employed by a public entity. In Jackson County, Western Carolina University and the Department of Transportation make up some of those numbers.

Surprisingly, said McCoy, only about 25 percent of employment in the area is directly related to tourism and home building.

Macon County has also sustained, until this year, amazingly low unemployment, averaging 4.5 percent from 1990 to 2008. This year, the unemployment rate is hovering near 13 percent.

“Seeing this year as atypical, our primary challenge is to recruit and retain professional talent and higher paid talent,” McCoy said.

Growth is coming regardless, and with that the county needs to position itself in a position of planning so that the community is developing in a measured direction.

“They are going to come from the outside in. There is a four-lane road from Atlanta to here that gets busier every day I drive it,” he said.

Macon County has taken positive steps forward in its entrepreneurial development and services to help shape the type of community it wants to be, he said.

As part of that managed growth and ability to attract more professionals, the downtown areas will continue to grow in importance.

Management of current and future retail space will become increasingly important. “We need to start looking at how we can be more sophisticated in retail,” he said.

McCoy outlined the duties of the new economic director, once selected. He identified that one-half of the time will be spent working with existing employers – on a case-by-case basis with priority on those planning expansions and those that are the largest employers or involved in target industries the county is looking to grow. Twenty to 30 percent of the time will be spent on entrepreneurial development, already a great strength in the area. This includes focus on the incubator, retail strategies and how to engage existing entrepreneurs in existing programs. Finally, 10 to 20 percent of the time, the director will focus on recruitment, focusing on those target industries of software development, data management, healthcare and retail.

The EDC will work on formalizing the information McCoy presented and bring it before county and town commissioners and aldermen at their next joint meeting in July.

“What has been interesting to me is that going in there; I think there was an assumption that the needs of the community -- the needs of Highlands and the needs of Franklin – would be different than the needs of the county. That just isn’t the case,” McCoy said.

Already the area is being viewed by some companies looking to relocate or expand. McCoy said he would begin adding an economic report to the monthly meeting. Since March 1, five leads and one prospect have already been sent to Macon County.

“I think people would be surprised at how much we get looked at,” he said.