After six months of study the results are in, and the Fayetteville City Council seems to already be focusing on the study’s conclusions.
In August, the city of Fayetteville agreed to pay $92,5000 to Garner Economics to create an economic development strategy specific to the city and to analyze the current economic state of the city. The final outcome will be to provide a roadmap for Fayetteville to create economic opportunities for its citizens, but the initial findings have been condensed into a Competitive Realities Report (CRR) and are now available for review.
In a press release, the city’s director of community development, Brian Wismer, said the focus of the overall study is for the city to understand the infrastructure improvements, marketing, and potential organizational changes it must make to ensure that the city strengthens its competitive position in the region, in order to attract and retain the types of businesses that will create job growth and other opportunities.
The initial report from the consulting company does not provide any recommendations since those will come in a second report. But paging through the 120 page document does provide an insight to the community’s wants for the the near future.
The top five wishes from citizen’s responses are:
• Develop downtown.
• Build a community that attracts and retains Millennials and serves an aging population.
• Attract and grow jobs.
• Fix internal roads so traffic flow improves.
• Create a unique shopping district.
The CRR is available for viewing at City Hall and on the city’s website (www.fayetteville-ga.gov).
