Proposed welcome center gets financial support from Randolph TDA

ASHEBORO — With design work for a new welcome center approved by the Randolph County Board of Commissioners, the Tourism Development Authority board has voted in favor of a resolution to help pay for the design work.

The commissioners voted Aug. 3 to contract with HH Architecture to do the design, bidding and construction administration for $279,300. 

As proposed, the welcome center will be built southwest of the Education & Resource Center of the Randolph County Agricultural Center at 1880 E. Dixie Drive in Asheboro. It will provide offices for the Ag Center and the Tourism Development Center.

Estimated cost of the 4,714-square-foot building is approximately $3 million, which would be funded by money left over from construction of the Ag Center.

The TDA resolution, approved unanimously by the Board of Directors, agrees to provide $279,000 for the design work and engineering.

In addition, the resolution obligates the TDA to pay monthly rent of $3,000 on the office space at the welcome center.

During the Aug. 19 meeting of the TDA board, Executive Director Amber Scarlett said their monthly rent at 500 Albemarle Road, Asheboro, is $2,500 but that doesn’t include overhead costs. 

The location is also too small and inconvenient for visitors. 

“We can add value to the Ag Center,” she said, by offering tourism suggestions to visitors. 

The TDA would also be closer to several hotels in the area.

Scarlett had broached the idea of a welcome center at the future Ag Center during a commissioners meeting in 2023. The TDA has had offices at other locations over the years, including the Historic 1909 Courthouse on Worth Street. Moving to the Ag Center campus would likely be permanent.

“I’m glad to see this,” said Rebecca Petty Moffitt, vice chair of the TDA Board. “We’ve been talking about moving.”

Longterm strategic plan for TDA in the works

In other business, Heather Dorsett of Dorsett Consulting in Archdale presented an overview of a new strategic plan for the TDA.

“This will be a longterm view of where we want to go,” she said.

The objective of the strategic plan is to “build a longterm vision, strategic priorities, and tactical plan aligned with annual marketing strategy and regional economic development goals.”

Dorsett said the process will be three-fold: Assess, report and plan. There will be stakeholder input from many resources. Findings will be compiled in an organizational and capability assessment report. There will be planning workshops to develop a multi-year business strategy and tactical plan for execution and communication. The result will be a comprehensive multi-year strategic plan and tactical roadmap.

Dorsett said the plan will kick off at a Sept. 9 meeting. The first year will include discovery, stakeholder engagement and organizational assessment. The second year will see the strategic plan development, tactical roadmap and the rollout. Completion is scheduled for January/February 2028.

The strategic plan, Dorsett said, is necessary to align strategies with the longterm and to develop the travel economy. The county needs to be ready for sustainable growth. The plan will also look at risk management, how to be prepared for economic downturns.

Goals will include the encouragement of longer hotel stays and advocating for tourism partners. There should be a framework for prioritizing investment in the travel economy.

The strategic plan would likely be good for three to five years, maybe longer, Dorsett said. She has looked at examples of planning at other counties, some of which plan for 10 years.

Dorsett said that once the planning begins, she’ll be giving updates on the progress to the board at its monthly meetings.