Wake County sees population, economic growth

He later praised the Capital Area Workforce Development Board, a public-private partnership, for its efforts to help citizens find jobs.

“Despite the many challenges that we’ve faced this year, our county continues to deliver quality services to citizens,” Gurley said. “Moving forward, we will continue to look for long-term positive strategies to ease the financial burdens that our citizens are facing.”

He used some of the speech to highlight the county’s distinction of being named one of the best places to live in the country.

“We continue to receive accolades which speak to this, accolades such as Forbes No. 1 best place for business and careers and the No. 1 housing market for investors, University of Wisconsin’s Population Health Institutes’ No. 1 healthiest county in North Carolina,” Gurley said.

Gurley said advancement has been made in the board’s top goals for this year. He highlighted progress with schools and education, environmental stewardship, economic development, human services, public safety and the county’s partnerships.

Gurley also addressed Wake County’s growing population, which he said it is expected to exceed 900,000 when the next census data is released.