If you’re considering Wayne County, North Carolina, for your new or expanding business, we believe you’ll find an enthusiastic community support, a highly skilled workforce, quality buildings and sites, and an enviable year-round weather, few areas can offer such an atrractive business climate for location and expansion.
Population
The 2000 Census figures show the population to be 113,329. Migration trends in Wayne County have contributed to an increase in population during the last seventy-five years with the exception of a ten-year period from 1940 to 1950. The municipalities located in Wayne County include the city of Goldsboro; the towns of Eureka, Fremont, Mount Olive, Pikeville and Seven Springs and the Village of Walnut Creek. Goldsboro-Wayne County has been named a metropolitan statistical area by the United States government.
Government
Wayne County is governed by a commissioner-manager system consisting of 7 members elected for four-year terms. One commissioner is elected from each of six different voting districts in the County and one member is elected countywide. All seven members serve concurrent four-year terms. The partisan elections for the Board of Commissioners are held in November in even-numbered years. The Board elects a Chairman and Vice-Chairman from among its members the first meeting in December annually.
Physical Characteristics
Wayne County’s surface is level to gently rolling uplands with broad bottoms along the rivers and some creeks. Elevations are predominately 120 to 145 feet above sea level. The largest waterway, the Neuse River, bisects the lower central portion of the county and cuts a deep channel 20 to 40 feet deep as it flows in an eastward direction. Unusual river bluffs occur in the vicinity of Seven Springs. In addition to the Neuse River, the county is drained by the Little River, the Northeast Cape Fear and numerous creeks.
Wayne County is underlain by unconsolidated beds of sand, clay and gravel. For the most part, these beds were deposited in seawater as the sea advanced and retreated during the geologic development of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. To a much lesser extent, streams deposited layers of sediment which mixed with that deposited on the sea floor.
The climate in Wayne County is characterized by warm summers and moderate winters. The average temperature is about 62 degrees. Annual precipitation is about 50 inches of rainfall per year, with the major portion occurring in the late spring and summer.
Economic Barometer
Wayne County’s local industries are involved in a range of operations from simple assembly to complex manufacturing processes resulting in products ranging from bread and poultry feed to automobile parts and electric transformers. Substantial technological improvements in recent years involving modernization of plant facilities and the addition of sophisticated manufacturing equipment have resulted in enhanced profitability and productivity for many of the local manufacturing firms.
The combination of a mild climate, a freeze-free growing season of about 225 days and a wide range of soil types contribute to a highly productive agricultural area. Total gross farm sales in Wayne County in 2000 was approximately $258,587,690. Field crops, including the primary crops of tobacco, corn, cotton, soybeans and wheat, accounted for nearly 21% of the farm income or $55,310,911.
Income from livestock production was $60,701,131 in 2000 and derived primarily from swine operations. Poultry production has increased rapidly since 1983, making it the single largest source of farm income. In 2000 farm income from poultry production was $118,528,672 or 46% of all farm income.
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is home to the 4th Fighter Wing and 916th Air Refueling Wing. The annual civilian and military payroll is over $193 million. In fiscal year 2000 the economic impact at the base totaled over $338 million.
For more information about Wayne County, visit waynegov.com