Strategic Plan 2022

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Target Industries for Rabun County

Rabun County has some very unique assets that appeal to tourists and residents alike, including scenery, recreation options, “lake” residential living, quality K-12 education, low crime rates, and an expanding retail sector. Many businesses do not require an urban location as long as quality internet is available. Consequently, Rabun County can use its “rural assets” to attract businesses that have traditionally developed in urban metro areas. Examples of these industries are identified by NAICS Code in the following chart.

Other non-listed targets include white-collar jobs that work from a remote location. These may include electronic-based work that can work effectively away from a central office location. During the COVID pandemic, working at home became essential. However, ” this is part of an ongoing trend in the American workforce that is being dubbed the  Great Resignation, or most recently, The Great Rethink, that would not be possible without broadband expansion of the past 10-15 years, and video conferencing” according to a survey by Digital.com. This is affecting two categories of workers, small business start-ups and remote employees. Both offer opportunities for Rabun County. Fortunately, a Commercial Cafe survey indicates  “Atlanta is the top City for remote work for places over 300,000 residents. This survey also indicates that 4 percent of Atlanta’s workforce was working from home in 2019, a 38- percent increase in four years(2015-2019). Furthermore, an Atlanta Commission Survey of Commuters in 19 metro counties finds 41 percent of metro Atlantans work remotely from home at least occasionally-nearly double the 2007 number. Traffic, long commutes, and the pandemic have all contributed to this trend. Finally, an Upwork Study forecasts that 36.2 million Americans will work remotely by 2025, an 87-percent increase since before the pandemic. 

These recent workforce trends work well for recruiting small business entrepreneurs and remote workers to Rabun County.

Marketing Strategies

These businesses will likely be small emerging businesses, individuals employed at a company, working at home, or entrepreneurs currently working in their profession and contemplating starting a new business. Proven recruiting methods include.

    1. Advertise in industry-specific publications.
    2. Attending business-relevant trade shows and events.
    3. Incorporating economic data into a comprehensive Forward Rabun website including information and advantages that would be attractive to this industry sector and linking the website to relevant city, county, regional, and state websites.
    4. Engage the lake residents and other residents in the marketing strategy. Rabun County has approximately 1,700 homeowners that live around the lakes. Many of these individuals have owned or managed successful businesses and have developed business networks that could complement Rabun County’s recruiting objectives. Some of these businesses will align directly with recruitment targets or be beneficial to the goal of providing high-wage local jobs.