Information Items:
Economic Development Announcement - Thursday, May 11
Staff Resource: Brad Richardson, 704-336-3857 - brichardson@ci.charlotte.nc.us
There will be a significant economic development announcement at the Charlotte Chamber on Thursday, May 11 at 11:30 am regarding a business expansion in Charlotte. Council members are invited to attend.
2006 Best Cities for Doing Business
Staff Resource: A.C. Shull, 704-336-2439 - ashull@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Inc. Magazine's Annual Report lists the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord region as the Twelfth Best Metropolitan Region for Doing Business among 66 large regions. It emphasizes the robustness of regional growth using employment growth rates for January, 1994 to September, 2005. The report notes Charlotte being home to Bank of America and Wachovia, whose presence has spawned a financial services sector that includes customer services and data processing centers as a major activity.
Comparison of selected economic indicators with Charlotte's peer MSA's follows:
- Median household income-Nashville $49,740 / Charlotte $52,274
- Educational attainment-bachelors degree- Indianapolis 25.80% / Charlotte 26.50%
- Five-year job growth -Denver -2.3% / Charlotte 4.3%
- Age distribution (18-34) - Raleigh 29% / Charlotte 25.7%
- Obesity Health Risk - Tampa 24% / Charlotte 23.0%
For additional information see the Inc. Magazine website below: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20060501/boomtowns-large.html
Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities Reminds Water Users to Conserve Staff Resource: Doug Bean, 704-391-5070 - dbean@ci.charlotte.nc.us
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities is stepping up its year-round request for water conservation, asking customers to follow voluntary water restrictions to protect lake levels for the coming high-demand summer months.
Staff is in frequent communication with Duke Energy, which continuously monitors the reservoirs. On May 1, Duke declared a 'Stage 1' conservation response is needed by regional Catawba River users due to a yearlong rain deficit and current stream and lake level conditions. This declaration has prompted a reminder to Utilities customers countywide to reduce non-essential water use by following these guidelines:
- Limit lawn and landscape water use to no more than two days a week.
- Limit water applied to one inch per week, including rainfall.
- Water before sunrise or after sunset to maximize water efficiency and minimize evaporation.
- Limit residential vehicle washing.
- Defer non-essential household uses to evening hours (dishwashers, clotheswashers).
Additional water conservation tips are available at www.cmutilities.com . Our conservation message is being distributed to customers in the May water bill insert, as well as upcoming news advisories, e-mails and website messages. Based on weather and other conditions this summer, mandatory restrictions may become necessary later in the summer. Our goal with the current, amplified voluntary conservation request is to reduce demand and do what we can to avoid making mandatory restrictions necessary.
