It’s been a busy year for the FCEDC team! We’ve been working hard to facilitate economic growth, provide new opportunities in the area, and support existing industry across Fayetteville and Cumberland County.

As always, the FCEDC is tremendously grateful for the opportunity to serve our community. Without the financial support of our public and private partners, including the City of Fayetteville and Cumberland County, these job-creating, tax revenue-generating projects would not be possible. Here are some of the things that have happened in the last year:

CONSTRUCTION UPDATES:

• Construction of NVR’s new manufacturing facility on Dunn Road has nearly been completed. Hiring is underway, with full operations to start in 2024
• Saw the completion of two privately funded spec buildings on Tom Starling Road and Corporation Drive, which are actively being marketed to domestic and international prospects
• Completion of Amazon’s 1.3 million square foot construction project, their second in our community, which is generating hundreds of thousands of tax dollars annually and will employ more than 500 when it opens

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

• Generated a record number of projects (123) and project visits (56) in the 2023 calendar year
• Cumberland County was selected by EDPNC and the NC Legislature as a location for a future “Megasite”, with the goal of attracting a transformational job-creating project
• Exponentially increased international recruitment activity with interest from companies in Asia, Europe, and the Americas, including the recently announced joint venture between Fayetteville-based Wahconah Partners and Israeli manufacturer Hagor Industries, LTD, creating 100 new jobs
• Actively investing more than $1.2 mil in grant funding from the Golden Leaf Foundation and the NC Southeast Partnership to grade and improve access to the County-owned, 159-acre Sandhill Road industrial site
• Partnered with the FAY Regional Airport to recruit new flights, secure federal funding, and through a second Golden Leaf Grant, improve critical infrastructure
• Expanded FCEDC’s CORE Business Accelerator, supporting growth of the Ft. Liberty Research Institute in FCEDC’s and early-stage technology companies

SPECIAL PROJECTS

• Introduced La Fayette Cognac, a spirit handcrafted in our sister City, St-Avold France as a celebration of 30 years of friendship and the upcoming 200th anniversary of the Marquis de Lafayette’s visit to Fayetteville in 1825
• Launched a “People’s Choice Cocktail Contest”, with 7 area establishments creating specialty drinks to showcase the taste and versatility of La Fayette Cognac.
• Successfully transitioned our website to www.fcedc.com, aligning our brand with the acronym by which we are best known in industry and community circles

EVENTS

• Hosted EDPNC’s Third Quarter Board Meeting in September, bringing business leaders from across the state to Fayetteville for two days
• Sponsored the Greater Fayetteville Business Journal’s “Power Breakfast” series, and brought in Ted Abernathy as the featured speaker in February
• Attended the AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Washington, DC in October
• Met with Mayor René Steiner, Deputy Mayor Raymonde Schweitzer and Monsiuer Pascal Flaus of our sister city, St. Avold, France during their visit to Fayetteville in September
• Robert van Geons was a featured panelist at IEDC’s annual conference in September during the session “Primed for Success: Best Practices when Working with Private Sector Economic Development Teams”
• Hosted an Honors Seminar in Economic Development, presented by East Carolina University’s Economic Development Academy in April
• Hosted a “Hiring our Heroes” workshop with Amplify in February
• Attended the STARward STEM Expo, in conjunction with Cumberland County Schools, where three local projects were chosen to be sent to the International Space Center

HONORS

• FCEDC’s President & CEO, Robert Van Geons selected to join the International Economic Development Council’s (IEDC) Board of Directors, serving 5,000 members globally.
• Fayetteville was named a Certified Gigabit City Powered by Metronet, the first in North Carolina and only the seventh in the nation to receive the designation
• Fayetteville was named an All-America City by the National Civic League for the fourth time
• Robert Van Geons named to the Business NC’s Power List of Most Influential Leaders for the third consecutive year
• Robert Van Geons was featured in the Wall Street Journal article “Private Equity Borrows Billions to Bring You Broadband Internet” in August