Halifax COUNTY, VIRGINIA

Community Strategic Plan (2004)

From a region that developed on the bootstraps of local farmers and laborers, to one that later diversified into various manufacturing sectors, Halifax County has always found a new engine for local job creation.  However, the final years of the 1990s and first third of the new decade have been difficult on the local economy.  Lingering unemployment and a decline in its core industrial base adversely affected prospects for growth in this Southside Virginia county of nearly 38,000 people.

As part of a grassroots effort to define Halifax County’s future potential, the Halifax County Chamber of Commerce initiated a process called Vision 2020, a community-wide initiative to define the County’s action plan for future growth and development.  To initiate the next phase of Vision 2020, the Chamber retained Market Street to facilitate the strategic process in Halifax County.  At the end of the three-month effort, Halifax County created a strategic vision and action plan to map the area’s path to short- and long-term growth.

Leveraging tremendous community input, Market Street worked with Halifax County stakeholders to define the current state of the County's competitiveness, and detailed its current and historical economic and demographic trends.  This analysis, paired with the contribution of over 1,000 local residents, combined to determine the priority goals, objectives and action steps needed to realize Halifax County's preferred vision.

The five goals focused on Halifax County’s economy, education and workforce development, infrastructure and land use, leadership and vision, and quality of life.  Each goal was accompanied by numerous objectives and action steps focused on utilizing existing and future assets for quality, sustainable growth.

Once consensus on the County's Community Strategic Plan was reached, implementation began immediately as local stakeholders mobilized to effectively turn the vision into reality.  Work groups were formed to focus on Halifax County's strategic goals, and a broad-based marketing effort publicizing the plan's implementation phase was undertaken.

Halifax County officials attribute numerous local successes to the collaborative efforts that emerged surrounding Vision 2020 implementation.  Among these are hundreds of jobs either retained, expanded or relocated, a community-wide health initiative and development of a new free/low-cost health clinic, improvement in K-12 student performance and the construction of brand new County schools, the launching of young professional and minority-enterprise initiatives, and many more.

Momentum for Vision 2020 implementation has not flagged as area stakeholders continue to work towards activation of the plan’s goals and objectives.