Henry County, Georgia
Henry Tomorrow (2001) and Targeted Industry Study (2011)
As the new century dawned, a farsighted consortium of civic, business, governmental, and educational leaders decided that Henry County needed a unified and comprehensive strategy to maintain its competitive position and revisit the discussion of what its “preferred future” should be. The group initiated Henry Tomorrow, a process designed to holistically evaluate and address Henry County’s business climate and quality of life issues. The Henry Tomorrow group hired Market Street Services in 2001 to facilitate and guide the development of Henry County’s strategic plan.
Key findings were revealed by four research documents (Economic-Demographic Profile, Business Climate Analysis, Community Input Report, and Target Business Analysis) and included:
• Population growth: can jobs and income keep up with population?
• Economic mix and diversity: Core wealth-creating sectors not growing sufficiently; over-dependence on retail and construction
• Workforce: Low educational attainment putting county at competitive disadvantage
• Standard of living: Wages and PCI growing more slowly than state and nation
• Entrepreneurs and small business: Lack of local business support services in county
This research informed the development of the Community Economic Development Strategy, which identified five goal areas through which Henry’s economic development activity would be channeled:
• Infrastructure and Quality Development
• Economic Structure
• Education and Workforce
• Civic Capacity and Collaboration
• Quality of Life
After the completion of the Strategy, Implementation Recommendations were developed to operationalize its goals, objectives, and actions. In the years that followed, Henry County continued rapidly adding residents – becoming the 10th fastest-growing county nationwide between 2000 and 2010 – and made substantial investments in workforce assets and partnerships. Employment opportunities also expanded rapidly, and Henry County leaders responded to workforce needs by launching new education and training institutions, such as Mercer University’s Regional Academic Center in McDonough.
In 2009, an intergovernmental group of leaders in Henry County produced an economic development plan through a process called One Henry. Among the plan’s key recommendations was to review and update the county’s target business sectors. As a result of that recommendation, the Henry County Development Authority contracted with Market Street Services in Sept. 2011 to guide the development of a new Targeted Industry Study.
Guided by a Work Group of key Henry County stakeholders, this process will identify the highest-value sectors and niches in which Henry County’s economic development professionals should invest time and resources. With a renewed focus on developing high-quality, diverse job opportunities, Henry County will be poised to forge a future of shared prosperity and high quality of life for all residents.