The Greater Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce brought the Fayetteville community to the Crown Expo Center on Thursday, Aug. 31 for their 2023 State of the Community event. 

Guests were able to hear community updates straight from leaders of the area's top industries. 

The guest speaker lineup included City of Fayetteville Mayor Mitch Colvin, Longleaf Pine Realtors Association President Melissa McKinney, Chair of Cumberland County Commissioners Dr. Toni Stewart, Cape Fear Valley Health System COO Daniel Weatherly, Superintendent of Cumberland County Schools Dr. Marvin Connelly and NC Commissioner of Labor Josh Dobson. 

Guests were able to hear community updates straight from leaders of the area's top industries. 

Mayor Mitch Colvin took to the podium first to share the accomplishments of the City. Highlights included: 

• The City of Fayetteville received the All American City Award from the All American City League for the fourth time. 
• $2.9 million in small businesses retention grants were invested into the local small business community during COVID-19. 
• 77,000 visitors participated in 47 events in Downtown Fayetteville in 2022
• Over 4.1 million people visited Downtown Fayetteville in 2022 due to the work of the Cool Springs Downtown District. 
• Other accomplishments include the successful launch of the Downtown Fayetteville Social District in 2022.
• 4400 jobs were added to the Fayetteville area in 2022. 
• The City saw $584 million in new investments.
• The Fayetteville Regional Airport’s economic impact totaling 813 million including creating over 3,600 indirect jobs, 258 million in personal income, contributes 38.6 million in state and local taxes. 

You can watch a full live stream of the event on the Greater Fayetteville Chamber’s Facebook page here. 

This is a developing story. 

The Greater Fayetteville Business Journal will continue to report on  highlights from the other speakers in additional stories as projects develop.