The Person County Board of County Commissioners adopted the “Our Future In Person” strategic plan to guide the county from 2010-2015. The strategic plan was a result of input from stakeholders across the county. The plan identified five goals – Protect Our Land, Foster a Sense of Community, Encourage Learning for Life and Lifelong Learning, Re-Imagine Our County for a Better Future and Prosper by Developing the New Economy Locally – and 112 strategies for achieving these goals. Visit the strategic plan webpage to learn more. To date, we have “completed” or are “in progress” with at least 37 of the 112 strategies (33%).

Over the past three years, the strategic plan has guided decision making. For example, the strategic plan recommended creating a “one-stop” shop for City and County permitting. Through collaboration with the City of Roxboro and Person County, all permitting departments are now housed in the same building. This change has made the permitting process more convenient and customer-friendly. Another strategic plan success story comes from the efforts that Cooperative Extension and agricultural stakeholders have made towards achieving the objectives laid out in the “Protect Our Land” goal. Person County has successfully implemented a Voluntary Ag District, opened a new Farmer’s Market and hosted the County’s first Farm Tour in Sept. 2012. These are just a few of the ways that the strategic plan has been a valuable tool for guiding decision-making and moving the county forward. The input that we received from citizens on the strategic plan has made a positive impact on our community.

While Person County has made significant steps towards achieving the goals laid out in the plan, there is still work to be done and we need citizen input to move forward with existing goals and begin to craft new ones to update the plan in 2015. If you would like to be involved in creating a document that guides Person County’s future, we invite you to participate in the upcoming strategic planning committee meetings. Person County staff will host meetings for each of the strategic plan’s goals in order to prioritize objectives, encourage participation in implementation and recommend improvements that can be made when the plan is updated in 2015. We anticipate that each group will meet before the end of 2012 and meet quarterly thereafter.

If you are interested in participating in the strategic plan meetings, please contact the individuals listed below:
1) Protect Our Land - contact Derek Day, derek_day@ncsu.edu
2) Foster a Sense of Community - contact John Hill, johnhill@personcounty.net
3) Encourage Learning for Life and Lifelong Learning - contact Grace Napier, gnapier.pchd@personcounty.net
4) Re-Imagine Our County for a Better Future - contact Judi Akers, jakers@personcounty.net
5) Prosper by Developing the New Economy Locally– contact Stuart Gilbert, sgilbert@personcounty.net

The “Our Future in Person” strategic plan would not exist without citizen input. Person County staff appreciates the time and energy that citizens put into creating the strategic plan and will continue to use the plan regularly to guide our county.