The County, incorporated in 1792, is in the Piedmont section of the State of North Carolina and is bordered on the north by Rowan and Iredell counties, on the east by Stanly County, on the south by Union County and on the west by Mecklenburg County; it comprises approximately 230,400 acres. There are six municipalities in the County, the largest of which is the City of Concord, also the County seat. Concord is approximately 124 miles from the City of Raleigh, North Carolina and 18 miles northeast of the City of Charlotte, North Carolina. The second largest municipality is the City of Kannapolis. The Towns of Mount Pleasant, Harrisburg, Midland and Locust are smaller municipalities in the County. The United States Census Bureau estimated a county population of 231,278 as of July 2021, making the County the 10th largest in North Carolina. The County is empowered to levy a property tax on both real and personal property located within its boundaries.

The County has operated under the Board of Commissioners-County Manager form of government since 1976. Policy-making and legislative authority are vested in a governing board consisting of five commissioners. The governing board is responsible for, among other things, passing ordinances, adopting the budget, appointing committees and hiring the county manager, clerk to the board, tax administrator and county attorney. The County Manager serves as the chief executive and is responsible for carrying out the policies and ordinances of the governing board, for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the government and for appointing the heads of the various departments. Board members are elected on a partisan basis serving four-year staggered terms, with new members (two or three) elected every two years.

The annual budget is the foundation for the County’s financial planning and control. All agencies of the County are required to submit requests for appropriation to the County Manager on or before the end of March each year. The County Manager uses these requests as the starting point for developing a recommended budget. The Board of Commissioners must adopt a final budget no later than June 30, the close of the County’s fiscal year.

The County is one of 10 counties located in the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NCSC Metropolitan Statistical Area (the “Charlotte MSA”), which consists of Cabarrus, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rowan and Union counties in North Carolina and Chester, Lancaster and York counties in South Carolina. The Charlotte MSA, anchored by the City of Charlotte, was the 22nd largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States as of the 2020 census.

The County’s rapid growth, largely attributable to the County’s position in the Charlotte metropolitan region, has continued during this period of economic prosperity. The County believes that its short-range and long-range planning has provided the necessary infrastructure to accommodate current and anticipated growth and the County cooperates with its municipalities in economic recruiting and development efforts.

The Cabarrus Economic Development Corporation (the “CEDC”), which operates with a full-time staff, serves as the County’s primary recruiting and marketing entity. The CEDC concentrates its efforts on business retention and expansion, entrepreneurship and new business recruitment. This includes keeping an inventory of available sites within commercial and industrial parks with all municipal services available located near major highways and interstates. All of these efforts position the County for continued strong economic development.

Historically, the County’s economy was primarily dependent on agriculture and the textile industry, but the County’s proximity to Charlotte and access to major interstate highways have helped diversify the County’s economy through investments in biotechnology, healthcare, manufacturing, industrial and business parks, warehousing and distribution, entertainment and hospitality, retail and aviation.

The North Carolina Research Campus Situated on 350-acres in downtown Kannapolis, the Research Campus houses eight major North Carolina universities focusing on biotechnology and nutrition research. At the center of the Research Campus is the 311,000 square foot David H. Murdock Core Laboratory, which houses the David H. Murdock Research Institute, Dole Food Company and Endev Laboratories. Other facilities include the Cabarrus Health Alliance, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Biotechnology Training Center, Greenhouse Facility and the Kannapolis City Hall and Police Headquarters.

The County has strong industrial and distribution sectors. This strength is due, in large part, to geographic location within the larger MSA and the combination of road and rail service. In addition, the aviation sector is strong and growing (this is discussed in a separate section). The best way to summarize Industry and Distribution is by area including potential areas for growth in those sectors. The primary areas that are occupied and growing lie along the interstate corridor but there are also concentrations near Harrisburg and in the southern part of the County. In addition, there are areas with infrastructure in place, or being improved, that are available for continued growth.

The International Business Park (IBP) is located near an interchange on I-85. The owners of the IBP actively pursue private investment from around the world. IBP includes a mix of over 30 companies the majority of which are global corporations. IBP has had constant activity over the last 25 plus years including recent lease up of speculative buildings, construction and occupancy of major distributions centers, the addition of manufacturing uses and, most recently, the completion of additional speculative buildings.

There are two additional concentrations of industry and distribution along the interstate corridor at Afton Ridge and the Derita Road area. Afton Ridge includes retail, residential and distributions center for S.P. Richards (200,000 square feet) and Gordon Foods (300,000 square feet). Additional phases of the Afton Ridge Business Park will include multiple industrial speculative buildings in the coming years.

The Silverman Group constructed and owns a total of seven (7) industrial buildings (2 million square feet) along Derita Road in Concord. The RiverOaks Corporate Center, also located on Derita Road, provides over one (1) million square feet of industrial development. RiverOaks is currently owned by Exeter Property Group.

The retail mix in Cabarrus County includes sites that serve the region/state and the local economy. The regional magnet is Concord Mills, which is the state’s largest tourism draw with over 17 million visitors each year and continues to spur retail and non-retail development.

Additional retail centers have been constructed throughout the County because of the population increase that has occurred. Larger retail centers are concentrated along Interstate 85 and in Harrisburg. Smaller, grocery anchored centers have been developed and are developing in several locations within Kannapolis, Concord and Harrisburg.

Since opening in 1994, the City of Concord has developed and operated Concord-Padgett Regional Airport on approxi¬mately 750 acres surrounded by I-85, Concord Mills Boulevard, Derita Road and Poplar Tent Road. The City’s Aviation Department manages the public use commercial service airport as a self-sustaining enterprise fund. The airport has 7,400 feet of runway that can accommodate aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 737 or Airbus 320.

Concord-Padgett facilities include a general aviation terminal, 32,000 square-foot commercial service terminal and 700-space two-level parking facility. The airport also includes a variety of support facilities, hangars and over twenty-five acres of ramp space for aircraft parking.

According to a 2021 NCDOT Division of Aviation economic impact analysis, Concord-Padgett contributed over $831 million into the local economy and supported 5,070 jobs in the region. There are currently 119 aircraft based at the airport with a combined taxable value of $218 million. Bringing additional revenues, based aircraft and new services for the community ensures the airport’s role as a critical regional economic generator and community asset.

The airport is home to many private sector businesses providing aircraft maintenance and detailing, flight schools, aircraft charter services, air ambulance providers and more. The airport is also home to many NASCAR corporate aviation flight departments including Hendrick Motorsports, Stewart-Haas and Joe Gibbs Racing.

Allegiant Air began commercial service in December 2013. Commercial service is offered to nine destinations including Orlando Sanford International Airport and Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. In 2020, 260,000 passengers flew commercial out of Concord-Padgett.