Roseboro mayor Roland Hall, second from left, informs the board of what he referred to as positive economic developments happening in the town. Also pictured, from left, are town clerk Drenda Ammons, and commissioners David Alexander, James McLean and Arnold Sandy.
In recent months, the town has faced financial struggles due to leaders’ plans for purchasing a new fire truck and a new well. Such struggles have led the board to ask county commissioners to take over the town’s park programs.
But Hall believes expected growth could pave the way to a better economic picture for the western Sampson County town.
In addition to the opening of a Kerr Drug and the real possibility a dialysis clinic locating in Roseboro, Hall also pointed to the town’s continued commitment towards downtown revitalization as evidence that there is an upswing.
To emphasize his point, he spoke of a man from Pennsylvania who had just moved to Roseboro, using the town as his winter vacation home.
“And when I asked the man why he chose Roseboro, he said, ‘I picked the town because the people were friendly and the town was clean,”’ Hall remarked.
The mayor expressed that after the man finished, “I just wanted to hug his neck.”
The fact that this visitor chose Roseboro as his home, Hall pointed out, is evidence that the town and its improvements, including the land use plan the board approved last year, is working, and the town is transforming itself.
“Things are now looking up,” said Hall.
With all of the growth that is hitting the town, he emphasized that more people are going to want to come to Roseboro because they will know that “we are open for business.”
“Are we now the hub of small businesses?” commissioner Arnold Sandy asked.
The mayor pointed out that the town was still not considered a hub. In an interview, Hall further clarified that a hub would be a town that would be looked at favorably in getting loans and grants due to the number of minorities or women being hired in these areas.
Commissioner James McLean then commented that he did notice that a new business was opening up on Main Street, where the town has been emphasizing its revitalization.
“And all this is timely,” said Hall.
Roseboro employment
While Hall was thrilled to tell the board of good news, he did have some bad news to report as well.
“There are still a lot of people out of work,” said Hall, who explained that the state currently has a 90.7 percent employment rate, but he stressed that Sampson County is not doing that poorly.
According to the Employment Security Commission website, the unemployment rate for February in Sampson County was 9.2 percent, and the state was is 10.2 percent.
“But some of our neighbors (counties) are not doing well,” said Hall. He did not mention which areas he was referring to.
And with unemployment continuing to be a concern, one resident, Jennifer Robinson, also addressed the board on a solution that she felt would help with that problem.
“If we have contractors coming to Roseboro, we need to make sure that they solicit employees from Roseboro, make sure that some of our people are employed.”
Hall then asked town attorney Bill Poole if it were possible to make it mandatory for companies to hire Roseboro residents.
“I don’t think you can require employers, but you can encourage employers to hire residents,” said Poole.
Katie Holland can be reached at 910-592-8137, ext. 136, or by e-mail at silife@myclintonnc.com.
How could Hall say that when the town employees don't even live in Roseboro?...none of this matters anyway. When the by-pass gets built, it will turn Roseboro into a ghost town. Hence the term, "BY-PASS"