Most of the non-agricultural economic development will occur in the County’s urban areas. The Comprehensive Plan’s public engagement efforts (e.g., participation by local Chambers of Commerce) also determined that cities have a variety of needs to meet their economic development goals. These needs ranged from filling industrial parks, attracting new residents, creating development to help pay for recent infrastructure improvements, and new approaches to land use and natural resource conflicts.
Development opportunities can be difficult to balance in an effort to not over burden infrastructure or natural resource and not conflict with the agricultural base. Particularly as one moves out of the metropolitan region, diversifying the local economic base may require substantial investments in infrastructure (e.g., telecommunications, transportation, water and wastewater). Some of these investments are described in local comprehensive plans, while larger regional initiatives or infrastructure needs are described in their respective plans.
This document can be used as a resource to learn more about the region's economic profile, such as demographics, labor force, income, wages, and occupations