Haywood County square in the middle economically

Vicki Hyatt, The Mountaineer, Waynesville, N.C.
·2 min read

Dec. 5—For the second year running, Haywood County is in a better position to attract state funding when it comes to economic development opportunities.

For the purpose of qualifying for state programs that assist counties with economic development opportunities, North Carolina has a tiered ranking system that evaluates counties based on four economic factors — its unemployment rate, median household income, population growth and assessed property value per capita.

The rankings are calculated annually by the N.C. Commerce and then used to analyze and rank each of North Carolina's 100 counties.

For a time, Haywood was ranked as a Tier 3, the highest performing category, which substantially diminished chances for receiving state assistance. This year, Haywood remained in the Tier 2 category that it slipped to in the 2021 rankings.

State law calls for 40 counties in the state to be designated as Tier 1, 40 counties to be designated as Tier 2, and 20 counties to be designated Tier 3, with the most economically distressed counties in Tier 1.

David Francis, who oversees economic development in the county, said he was surprised, but grateful, that the county remained a Tier 2 considering the population growth and low unemployment rate in Haywood.

"We were only eight slots off of a Tier 3," he said. "This isn't a bad place to be coming off the pandemic and with flood recovery."

Tier designations determine eligibility and guidelines for several different grant programs that N.C. Commerce administers including the One North Carolina Fund, building reuse, water and sewer infrastructure, and the downtown revitalization Main Street program.

Tier designations also play a role in the state's performance-based Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) program, serving as a mechanism to channel funds for infrastructure improvements into more economically distresses areas of the state.

For more information about the tier designation system visit: nccommerce.com/grants-incentives/county-distress-rankings-tiers.