GUILFORD COUNTY, N.C. — Guilford County Commission Chair Skip Alston says communication between leaders in different Guilford County towns and cities is crucial when it comes to the county's growth.
Thankfully, he says communication over the last two years has improved and has allowed the county to score more wins as a whole.
This includes more money for schools, access to health care, and job opportunities.
Dozens of Guilford county leaders and residents were in attendances for the State of the Guilford County Address to hear about the county's accomplishments and continued progress.
Alston says earlier this year, voters approved $2 billion dollars worth of school bonds for various projects for Guilford County Schools, "it passed overwhelmingly because people saw the conditions of our schools and they said, let's now do something about it."
The money will be used to improve infrastructure, safety, and technology.
"That's the first time in the history of North Carolina, that a bond of that nature has been passed for schools," Alston said.
Alston says the school system is starting to see developments in the first 11 bond projects out of 17 bond projects in total.
While access to better education was at the top of the list, so was better access to emergency medical services.
Alston says rural areas in the county don't get the same response time as urban areas.
Dean Maddox, Mayor of the Town of Pleasant Garden says with the help of Guilford County, he's looking at what can be done to better emergency services in his area, "[we're asking] what do we need in terms of resources staffing, capital equipment to serve this type of growth? Cause right now, we don't have it."
Money from a federal American Rescue Act Fund will be spent on better access to those services.
Alston also mentioned the amount of extra jobs and capital investments the county has seen so far, "we've added 973 new jobs in the last fiscal year alone and over $690 million in new investments have come to our community."
That's not all though, he says the incoming Toyota manufacturing plant is set to bring 3,500 jobs and over $5.9 billion in investments.