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Several people have asked me why I haven’t written more articles about economic development. Out of the 50 plus articles I have written, two were about economic development and one of the two focused solely on the four industrial parks.

The primary reason I got involved in politics was economic development. I saw large businesses which were either declining or disappearing in Beaufort County and desired to volunteer and help to reverse the trend.

The largest losses Beaufort County had over the years included National Spinning, Hamilton Beach, Donnelly Marketing, Stanadyne, Fountain Power Boats, a furniture manufacturer in Chocowinity, several apparel plants and possibly others. Beaufort County was a blue-collar hub but isn’t any more.

The primary businesses now are medical, mining, boat and filter manufacturing.

Like other rural counties, Beaufort County has lost population and according to present population numbers, is still losing population. There are lots of elderly people in Beaufort County. When they die, that includes me, there are few new replacements to make up for the loss.

I believe that Beaufort County needs to grow. I don’t want to see as much growth as Greenville but how about some new industries with high paying jobs to keep the younger folks from moving elsewhere.

Growth does bring benefits. As a resident, I was disappointed when the Food Lion west of Washington on 264 closed. It was very convenient to me and my wife. The Food Lion moved into the Piggly Wiggly after remodeling and Washington had one less supermarket.

I don’t like the new Food Lion. The store has more stuff but the aisles are clogged and hard to maneuver through and is almost always crowded. An improvement for Food Lion’s business due to one less store but not for me. When I shop at Food Lion, I mostly go early in the morning. I prefer the one in Chocowinity.

Two things which are needed west of town are another supermarket and a drug store. I doubt that we’ll ever get another drug store since Walgreen’s and CVS are closing stores nationally.

I would even like another Big Box store in Washington like a Target. We haven’t had one since K-Mart closed. Also a few nice restaurants outside of downtown would be nice. I’m sure Aurora would love to have a supermarket and a bank after the present one closes.

These are the type things we would get if we had more economic development and growth in population.

Washington has accomplished a lot in improving and growing tourism. I see it every time I go downtown. Washington has become a tourist destination. It took a lot of time and effort to do it but they have succeeded and are working on more improvements to make Washington more desirable. As a citizen, I’m proud of what they have done.

I believe we can also make Beaufort County grow again. It takes a lot of work and involvement by many people but I believe it can happen. Having a plan and thinking out of the box would be a start.

It’s time, let’s make Beaufort County grow again. It can be done!

Al Klemm is a Washington resident and a former Beaufort County Commissioner.