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Harnett County commissioners approve strategic plan for the next decade

By Staff Report, posted Feb 16, 2022 on BizFayetteville.com

The Harnett County Board of Commissioners recently approved the county's first strategic plan. 

The county partnered with the University of North Carolina's School of Government's Center for Public Leadership and Governance to develop the 2032 strategic plan that will guide the county over the next decade. 

"The process of developing this Strategic Plan was an inclusive one that offered opportunities for both County employees and the County's citizens to provide feedback, which informed the plan," stated Harnett County Board of Commissioners Chairman Lewis Weatherspoon. "We wanted to develop Strategic Goals that every County department and employee can see their role in accomplishing, and that every citizen feels will improve their lives."

The planning process for the new strategic plan kicked off in June 2021 with a retreat for county department heads to be introduced to strategic planning, high-performance structures, and identified strategic priorities for Harnett County, leading the county to seek input from the public and county employees.

This strategic plan creates a dynamic vision for the future of Harnett County, as well as a mission for county government and five strategic goals that will keep this vision alive. The plan also includes a shared set of core values.

This 2032 Strategic Plan focuses on five goals that reflect the priorities for the county over the next three years: superior education, organizational excellence, healthy and safe community, economic strength, and informed and engaged citizens. Each goal has a set of objectives with actions to complete each goal.

The core values implemented in the plan help define employees' standards of behavior and acknowledge their purpose to create a better Harnett County through customer service, respect, ethical & fair treatment, accountability, teamwork, and excellence. 

"The adoption of a vision, mission, and values statement is critical in guiding staff in their efforts to improve our county, and in doing so to honor our values as an organization," stated Harnett County Manager Brent Trout.

This spring,  county officials will develop key performance indicators that will measure the progress toward accomplishing each strategic goal, along with an annual performance report that the public will have access to.

"This effort will begin quickly to accomplish the goals created in the Strategic Plan," said Trout. "The ambitious goals the Board established will provide quality service to our residents now and set the County up for successful growth in the future."

Harnett County's 2032 strategic plan can be viewed at www.harnett.org/publicinfo/strategic-plan.asp.

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