2024 Annual Comprehensive Report

• Customer Service, Diverse Workforce, and Fiscal Management – The City’s focus on customer service, a diverse workforce and fiscal stewardship, transparency and accountability ensures the City has the right people doing the right job. The budget continues a variety of employee development initiatives, including MentorMe (employee-to-employee mentoring program), Toastmasters, and development programs, such as Leadership Edge and Leadership Prime, designed for employees wishing to pursue supervisory roles in the organization. The FY 2024-25 budget continues progress toward Council's desire to support and provide for City employees. The budget includes continued efforts to ensure salaries and wages are competitive and support all employees. The new minimum salary for all benefited positions increases by 4.2% to $39,000 per year, or $18.75 per hour, for a 40-hour workweek. The minimum salary for many of our labor positions, such as crew member and heavy equipment operator, will surpass $20 per hour and $41,600 per year. This budget also fully funds recent compensation increases for public safety positions, which have seen more than 30% increases since FY 21-22. The adopted budget will also increase each of our salary structures by 4%. This means that the pay ranges for each position will increase by 4% making sure that our employees will have room to grow in their careers, and helps us to maintain a competitive posture in the marketplace for new talent. Greensboro's diverse economy is attributed to its unique blend of trade, manufacturing and service businesses as well as its universities and colleges. Local industry is characterized by the production of a wide range of products, including aircraft, machinery, electronics equipment, textiles, apparel and tobacco, and expansion in the aircraft maintenance, transportation, and financial services industries. Five of the top 50 companies on the Fortune 500 list have operations in the Greensboro area; these include UnitedHealth Group, AT&T, UPS, FedEx and Procter & Gamble. Greensboro and North Carolina in general are transforming from the traditional manufacturing base noted in the late 80’s and early 90’s to a strong service sector and high-tech presence with significant business diversification in recent years. The Greensboro-High Point metropolitan area ranked in the top ten nationally for 11 of the 12 years spanning 2012 through 2023 for regions with populations of 200,000 to 1 million by Site Selection magazine for metro areas enriched by corporate capital investment. The ranking is based on the number of projects with capital investments of at least $1 million, related floor-space expansion, and the number of new jobs created. This area experiences an excellent market location that has access to all major domestic and international markets from Interstate Highways 40, and 85 and the PTIA. Construction is underway for a new interstate system (I-73) that will span North Carolina, joining Detroit and Charleston, including Greensboro en route. In northern Greensboro, U.S. 29, between Danville and Greensboro, has also been designated as Interstate 785. Located at the center of North Carolina and the midpoint of the East Coast, Greensboro is strategically positioned at the hub of a dynamic region for major transportation, logistics, manufacturing and service industries. In addition, half of the U.S. population is within 650 miles (1,046 km.), another major advantage. With the significant presence of FedEx and Honda Aircraft, the region continues to build on the strengths of its geographic location positioning the Triad as a global “aerotropolis” and logistics center on the U.S. East Coast. The Greensboro Urban Loop , a 49-mile State-constructed beltway around Greensboro, began construction in September 2013 and was completed in January 2023. This approximately $1 billion project was funded by the N.C. Legislature. The Urban Loop beltway is comprised of four major interstates; 73, 85, 785 and 840. This connectivity significantly contributes to the distribution and logistics hub in the region and will serve to support suppliers of existing and expanding businesses. FACTORS AFFECTING FINANCIAL CONDITION A. Local Economy

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