Interview: Hal Hegwer, City

Hal Hegwer

City Manager City of Sanford

What differentiates Sanford from the other residential hubs in the Triangle region?

Sanford is centrally located in the state with easy access to major highways and rail transportation, which is a huge asset. We also have a highly skilled workforce to ensure our industries can be successful. Along with these amenities, Sanford has invested heavily in its water and wastewater infrastructure – and continues to do so.

What partnerships between the colleges and businesses are underpinning economic growth?

Central Carolina Community College (CCCC), our local community college, is extremely robust. It has a wide range of partnerships to both prepare the workforce for high-paying jobs and also to best understand what businesses and industries need to be successful. The college works with local industry to offer specialized skills to their employees and has created competitive internships for students. CCCC’s Small Business Center has partnered with the Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Sanford, Inc. to prepare entrepreneurs to run successful businesses. New programs are created as needed to ensure our community is prepared and can benefit from the economic growth we’re seeing.

What are some of the city’s main challenges?

The main challenge we face is providing the public services necessary for the quality of life we want for our residents, businesses, and industries. Our city is growing at a tremendous rate and it is our job to keep up. We are in the service business – whether it’s police protection, fire protection, paving streets or picking up trash. These necessary services are expensive and the recurring costs are high. We must make the investments upfront so that, as Sanford grows, the quality of life doesn’t suffer, even though tax-base growth comes later.

Our focus in the near term is coordinating with our regional partners for a massive expansion to our water treatment plant and the infrastructure necessary to deliver water across the region.

Raleigh-Durham’s access to human capital, multimodal transportation and top research institutions attract firms across different industries.

Certain restrictions in the state carried over into 2021 but were loosened as the vaccine program was rolled out. As of July 9, 9.43 million total doses had been administered, with 42.6% of the state fully vaccinated. Despite many areas having to face the prospect of raising taxes due to a budget shortfall, the North Carolina state budget is projected to collect $6.5 billion more than expected in the next two years.

Key industries With an older population and an influx of jobseekers, the Triangle region has adopted economic diversification to ensure its continued growth. At the top of the list of desirable industries are the advanced manufacturing and biotechnology clusters, which the region is feeding with its robust talent pipeline. The region is also a hub for cleantech and smart grid companies that spend tens of millions of dollars annually on research, development and implementation of new technologies linked to sustainability and green energies. The Triangle already has the upper hand when attracting advanced manufacturing firms, due to its world-class research ( )