Spotlight On: Marion Holloway, Mayor, City of Monroe

Spotlight On: Marion Holloway, Mayor, City of Monroe

2023-04-28T15:28:56-04:00April 14th, 2023|Charlotte, Economy, Spotlight On|

2 min read April 2023 In an interview with Invest:, Marion Holloway, mayor of the City of Monroe, discussed key milestones and takeaways, as well as the main priorities moving forward. He also shared his perspective on the region’s economy given the current challenges and the city’s strategies to attract businesses and remain competitive, particularly around housing affordability.

What have been some of the key milestones for the City of Monroe over the past year?

This is a continuation from last year. Our brand-new police station has been long-awaited. For about 19 years, we had our Police Department cramped in the same quarters and, as the City grew, it became more and more necessary to have a dedicated facility. The station was scheduled to open this month in March, but it will be delayed by about three months. 

Fortunately, the contract was signed before many of the supply chain shortages and price increases became prevalent.

We are repurposing an old building into a new Science Center, which will be opening in the summer and will be a state-of-the-art facility. It will offer hands-on experiments such as making a paper airplane and launching it to see how far it can go, and it will feature water tables where visitors can learn about the uses and cycle of water. It is named after Dr. Christine Darden, one of the black women who did much of the work for NASA before computers were used. She is still working today on eliminating sonic booms. Additionally, our theater has opened and is attracting large crowds. Monroe was the seventh city to have social districts, and we have seen great participation from the entire area. While it may be more challenging for larger cities like Charlotte, it has been a boom for our local restaurants and establishments.

Our economic development group has been making great strides in attracting businesses. Our business park at the airport is almost filled up, and we are very proud of our 7000-foot runway and a U.S. Customs facility. There are very few municipalities in the country our size that have Customs and we are working diligently to get more charter flights to the Caribbean. Our economy mainly consists of manufacturing. Recently we have been adding some logistics with a 330,000-square-foot FedEx distribution center to open in the next month or two. Our city has many great things happening, such as the 500,000 square foot expansion of a window company that makes double pane windows to be sent all over the country.

While our proximity to Charlotte plays a huge part in our growth, we also have very progressive and out-of-the-box thinkers who come up with innovative ideas. It is a great time to be the mayor of Monroe.

How would you describe the current state of the region’s economy?

While no place is completely immune to economic downturns, I strongly believe that our area has a very strong economy and many growth opportunities. As an optimist, I see nothing but great things ahead for us. However, having spent 15 years in banking, I also know that it’s important to be cautious with our finances and avoid overspending. We’re working hard to be good stewards of our tax revenue and to avoid any unnecessary tax increases. Overall, we’re very confident in the resilience and capacity of our city and the entire metro area, particularly Union County, to weather any challenges that come our way. We’re committed to making things happen and ensuring the continued growth and prosperity of our community.

What are some of the ways your team is strategizing to stay on top of the current challenges?

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that one of the biggest challenges we are facing in the ongoing budget hearings for the city of Monroe is inflation. For example, in our water department, we have our own filtration system, and we supply our own gas, electricity, and wastewater treatment.  However, the cost of supplies for water treatment has gone up by 28% in the past year. How can we prevent large increases in costs for our consumers? We have around 12,000 residential customers in the city of Monroe, and about 11,500 for wastewater treatment. Unfortunately, we have little control over inflation. If prices go up, we either have to deal with it or purchase the necessary chemicals. We could explore alternative methods of treating water to save money in the future, but that requires replacing equipment, which can be costly. Inflation is not good for anyone, except for governments that have issued a lot of debt and are paying it back with cheaper dollars. While we are trying to avoid raising our tax rate, we are fortunate to have a growing tax base that generates additional funds, exceeding the expenses we require, allowing us to absorb many of these costs.

How are you encouraging the growth of the city’s industries? 

One of our long-standing industries, Charlotte Pipe and Foundry, opened a plastics division in Monroe many years ago. It’s amazing to see that they extrude over 200 miles of pipe every day.  That’s almost enough to go from Monroe to Athens, GA. I can’t fathom that much pipe coming out of their plant every day, let alone where it all goes. They are currently expanding the plant with an additional $100 million investment. The growth in our manufacturing sector is phenomenal. Darnel Group, one of our few businesses that COVID has been good to, has seen a surge in business due to the increased demand for carry-out packets for plate dinners and hamburgers. We have also seen a rise in take-out orders from restaurants, which has helped their business. Collins Aerospace at our airport is currently running at an all-time high, with a 150% increase in the number of equipment repairs per day.  Since air miles are at a peak this summer, they have to refurbish the equipment and get the planes back in the air before the end of April. ATI Specialty Alloys is our super alloy company that provides titanium shafts for jet engines and metal for engines. Almost every jet engine in the world has metals that come out of Monroe, so our city’s economy is closely tied to the airline industry. They are working hard to get the product out, and every business seems to be healthy, with each of them having a ‘help wanted’ sign out in front.  This is a good sign of how business is thriving.

What other types of businesses are you hoping to attract to Monroe? 

We still have a huge amount of farming operations in our county. Monroe is the county seat and one of the larger areas, but for the farmer, they make their money to survive, and for the grocery store, they make a small profit when they sell an item. The big money in agriculture is made in the middle, where they take the raw product and process it, which is why we want to get more processing done right here. The economic development commission has been working to locate an incubator with commercial kitchens, where growers can take their product and get started in processing this food, and then eventually build their plant. It’s a slow process, but it has benefited other areas that have done it, and there are tremendous farming operations here in Union County that could benefit from that.

What strategies are you implementing to make sure the city of Monroe remains affordable? 

When we were approving homes about four years ago, we approved some developments for what we would call affordable housing. Unfortunately, due to price increases, what we thought would have been affordable then is not so much now. Wages can’t keep up with the prices of homes, so this is still a topic that we are discussing. We are approving more and looking at more apartments. We always prefer home ownership because of the stability it provides, and that also helps with our other services, such as fire and police. Having a stable population is important for us down the road. However, we’re taking a hard look at more townhomes and apartments to provide affordable homes for starter families and individuals. It’s very difficult because the cost of a two-by-four is the same whether it’s going into a $4.5 million or a $200,000 home. So, it’s a difficult balancing act for the city, and it’s also a balancing act for people who come in to develop their property. Being as close to Charlotte as we are and with the new expressway that cuts in through Matthews and goes down to Marshall, it has created huge interest in the real estate in that area.

For more information, visit:

https://www.monroenc.org/ 

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