Polish Group Visits Town 7/10/07

Local government professionals from Poland toured Holly Springs in early July. It was the second time in recent months that Europeans have visited Town Hall on a study of American municipal government.

The Polish contingent was in the area as part of a national tour arranged by the U.S. State Department's International Visitor Leadership Program. Their visit came three months after local officials from the former Soviet Republic of Moldova visited Holly Springs following a meeting in Raleigh.

To their Polish visitors, Town Manager Carl Dean and Economic Development Director Jenny Mizelle gave an overview of Holly Springs' growth. They charted its development from a community of 900 people and a $14 million tax base in 1990 to nearly 20,000 people and a tax base of $1.6 billion.

“The challenge with Holly Springs right now is trying to get our infrastructure in place as we grow - primarily water, sewer and roads,” Dean told the visitors.

In Europe, the Poles said, small towns surrounding larger cities tend to be “sleeper cities.” They wondered why Holly Springs was not content to remain a bedroom community.

Bedroom communities function OK for awhile, Dean replied. But the cost of providing services continues to rise even after property taxes level off as neighborhoods build out.

“People who live here want the conveniences,” Dean added. “They don't want to drive out of town to get what they consider basic services.”

To draw more business, Town officials commissioned a branding study in 2001 to market Holly Springs Business Park for technology manufacturing companies. Biotech manufacturing was shaping up as a national trend. It seemed like a good industry for Holly Springs to focus on.

The Town obtained state certification for the business park; established a foreign trade zone there; expanded its water, sewer and transportation capabilities; and increased Holly Springs' presence in the biotech trade world.

“We did our homework,” Dean told the Polish visitors.

That homework paid off last summer when pharmaceutical giant Novartis announced that it would build a vaccine manufacturing facility in the business park. It was a giant step in the effort to provide good jobs that don't require fighting traffic in Research Triangle Park and elsewhere.

Still, Mizelle told the Europeans that, “Novartis is just one answer.”

In April, several local officials from Moldova received an impromptu tour after a presentation at the N.C. League of Municipalities office in Raleigh.

“They were much more interested in what we do because we're small enough that they could relate,” Town Manager Carl Dean explained.

The Moldovans visited Town Hall and toured the business park, including the Novartis site. Through a translator, they praised the “openness and kindness” of Americans. The Moldovans were impressed by the infrastructure here.

That visit was sponsored by the Open World Leadership Center, which promotes understanding by bringing together civic and political leaders of the United States and Russia. Exchanges focus on such topics as economic development, education reform, the environment and law.

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Town of Holly Springs - PO Box 8 - 128 South Main Street - Holly Springs, NC 27540 - (919) 552-6221 - Holly.Springs@hollyspringsnc.us