Wake Forest named a top U.S. growth city

Triangle Business Journal

Wake Forest is one of the top high-growth communities in the country, according to a ranking compiled by research firm Gadberry Group.

Gadberry, which provides location information and household data for clients such as retailers, on Tuesday announced the top nine cities in its “from 2009” report.

Little Rock, Ark.-based Gadberry evaluated various metrics, including growth in households and income. Wake Forest placed sixth in the ranking. The city grew from 8,150 households in 2000 to 17,803 in 2009, a 118 percent increase, according to Gadberry’s analysis. The average annual household income for Wake Forest increased from $70,148, to $82,771.

The top city was Atlanta suburb Braselton, Ga., which saw its household income increase 67 percent from 2000 to 2009. Houston suburb Atascocita, Texas followed. Texas was well represented with four cities. Besides Wake Forest, no other North Carolina community made Gadberry’s top rankings.

“As a Wake Forest native, I’ve recognized the explosive growth that our community has experienced,” Don Stroud, Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce board co-chair said in a statement. “The Gadberry data will give us the quantitative tools we need to continue to draw new development to Wake Forest.”

If you haven’t already, be sure to visit www.discoverwakeforest.org and subscribe to their news feed as this is certain to be a valuable informational source for businesses and citizens of our town.  Below is their first feed that explains the partnership between Wake Forest Downtown Revitalization Corporation and the Wake Forest Chamber of Commerce:

“By mutual agreement between the Wake Forest Downtown Revitalization Corporation (DRC) and the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber will now assume economic development activities for downtown Wake Forest as part of the Chamber’s overall economic development program.

Downtown economic development was one of five priorities identified at a strategic planning session of the Wake Forest Area Chamber of Commerce this past year and has become an important component in the Chamber’s overall commitment to the Town of Wake Forest to provide economic development activities for the entire community.

“This partnership agreement allows us to have a coordinated and focused effort toward the continued revitalization of downtown Wake Forest and continued strides on the implementation of the Renaissance Plan,” Chamber Executive Director Jodi Ann LaFreniere said.

The Chamber and the DRC will assist and complement each other’s downtown economic development efforts through various roles and responsibilities as they relate to this important function. The Chamber will organize and lead monthly meetings of a separate downtown economic development task force with key stakeholders; continue to plan and manage the annual Economic Development Forum (February 2009); provide structured outreach to both existing and potential downtown stake holders; provide a progress report and prioritization objectives with regard to the Renaissance Plan; distribute a four page quarterly newsletter as a pull-out in the monthly Chamber newsletter; add a downtown section to the economic development web site scheduled for launch in February 2009; and participate in the DRC monthly board meetings.

Both the Chamber and the DRC have a strong commitment to downtown and want to ensure that all plans and opportunities to enhance and protect the economic vitality of downtown are fully realized.”