By Christine Moore, Orange County District 2 Commissioner

This month I had the opportunity to meet with the brain trust of Charlotte, North Carolina. Trips like this help develop collaborative relationships with local talent and gain insight and best practices from other cities. It is an immersive experience, and I highly recommend the practice for all civic and non-profit leaders. 

The session on Charlotte entertainment, arts and sports was highly beneficial. They mentioned that amenities attract top talent in all fields. Amenities and festivals also recruit this much needed talent that keep our children employed, engaged, and residing in town. These arts, sports, and entertainment leaders were committed to doing their part to build the entire ecosystem of the city.  

The arts were described as the “energizer bunny” for downtown. While I do not believe Apopka will ever recruit a professional sports team, we can all agree about what Blue Darter sports has done for our town’s spirit and self-worth. I will always remember every Apopka business placing “Good Luck at State” on their marquees.  

We all stood behind the championship teams. We need more things like this to displace the current angst and rancor amongst the political class. In Charlotte, we saw the value of cooperation and collaboration. 

A large industry, Charlotte-based Duke Energy, modeled what a hometown business can do for a city’s eco-system. Duke purchased a large, defunct textile factory. Once the textile business was closed, the entire area had suffered decline. No one wanted to live in the area, and property values and opportunity declined precipitously.  

Duke remodeled a portion for their business operations with collaboration spaces and redeveloped another portion for shopping and dining.  

Last week I shared a video of this aspirational space on my Facebook page. The Duke Energy facility provided a boost to the entire community. Renovated housing, new businesses and new housing dot the skyline. All this improvement is because of the foresight and innovation of one local industry. 

Charlotte was clearly in competition with Atlanta. Speakers mentioned this repeatedly. Nevertheless, they are the home to large corporations such as Lowe’s, Food Lion, Truist, Duke Energy, and 800 additional smaller businesses. The job opportunities for their college grads are immense.  

It is vital that we support our local public education, state colleges and universities. I learned from the three college presidents on the trip their need for business leaders to team up for advocacy. Our colleges believe in helping all students, not just the best and brightest. With state performance-based pay incentives, our local institutions have lost out on funding. They asked for assistance. 

Charlotte had many active and quality social service agencies. The business community donates millions of dollars to uplift and elevate opportunities for every citizen of the Charlotte area. The business community was purposeful in their support and strategies of the non-profit agencies. It never helps to leave any citizen without hope and opportunity. Charlotte leaders were engaged together for the betterment of all. 

I hope you get an opportunity to learn from others in your respective fields. Collaboration, cooperation, and emulation are the magic sauce for improving any city.