At my Exchange Club luncheon today our guest speaker was Karen Shore the Executive Director for the Mooresville Chamber of Commerce.  I have known about some of what she shared with us but she confirmed that yes, there is some truly good economic news to share about the greater Mooresville/Lake Norman communities!

• Mooresville-Statesville was just chosen as the #1 Micropolitan in the entire US for 2008 by Site Selection Magazine’s  March 2009 edition! ”In 2008, companies made 17 announcements to either expand or build a new facility in the Statesville-Mooresville Micropolitan Area, according to the Conway Data New Plant Database, the official corporate facility tracking service of Site Selection magazine.”  This places us a #1 out of 700 micropolitan areas designated by the U.S. Census Bureau.  “A micro area is a largely rural economy that includes a city of at least 10,000 people but less than 50,000 and covers at least one county.”  Reasons for businesses to move were “competitive business costs, low taxe rates and skilled workforce”.  Mooresville accounted for 12 of the 17 deals!

• Today’s Charlotte Observer article by Joe Marsuk announced that “John Q Hammons Hotels & Resorts plans to begin construction this year on a 300-room, 12-story Embassy Suites hotel and 75,000 square-foot convention center off Interstate 77′s Exit 32″!  Construction is expected to begin in late summer and last about 16-18 months.

• On Monday, Mooresville Commissioners finally approved a 100-acre sports complex at Mezzepa Road Park which will include 6 soccer fields, 4 baseball diamonds, walking trails and a playground. 

• In February, Business Week  ranked our Lake Norman town of Cornelius the 7th “Best Affordable Suburbs 2009″ in the entire country and 1st in North Carolina!  Consideration was given to livability, short commutes, low pollution, amount of green space, job growth, crime rates, weather, household income, education levels and quality of schools.  Cities had to be within 25 miles of one of the nations most populous cities so any of our towns north of Cornelius would have been to far from Charlotte to be considered.

• Forbes recently ranked Charlotte as the 4th best housing market in the country!

• Today’s home mortgage rates in our area dropped to 4.875% for a 30-year fixed home loan.

At a time when it can be down right painful to watch/read our national news, it is truly great to have so much positive news to share with you.  Clearly, while our Lake Norman real estate housing market is struggling right now, there is a bright future.  If the businesses are coming, so too will the demand for housing return.  Unlike many cities in our country which are loosing significant jobs, we will return to our role as a popular destination!

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