CHINA GROVE — Where is China Grove headed?

Town Manager Franklin Gover sought to answer that question and more through the presentation of a newly minted Strategic Plan during the China Grove Town Council meeting on Tuesday. 

“A strategic plan’s vision and mission statement is fundamental to culture and organization,” Gover said. 

The Strategic Plan’s development began shortly after the New Year. 

“This process has been really quick, but there has been a lot of involvement from different levels, from residents to town staff up to the council,” Gover said. “This is a bottom up process starting with the staff in late January.

“Then we had a virtual public input process with 28 or so residents who went through a very similar process to what the staff and council went through, discussing values, the town’s mission and aspirational vision.”

In late February, the town council finalized China Grove’s mission, vision, values and potential priorities for the next 3-5 years, in preparation for passage at the March meeting. 

“What is the Strategic Plan?” Gover said. “How will we use it and what does it look like day to day? It’s a guide post. It keeps us focused. It’s a living document. This is just the beginning.

“Every year as part of our budget process from here on out, the Strategic Plan is going to be reflected on, evaluated and it can be updated to celebrate our accomplishments and to look toward the future of where we are going to keep going.”

As the leader of the staff, Gover said he wants to use the plan as an accountability tool to “remind our staff why we are here, what our values are and remind them about what excellence really is.”

The Strategic Plan includes a new town vision: “In China Grove, our distinct charm and character shape a community that welcomes everyone, supporting growth and success for all.”

“That is our aspirational vision,” Gover said. “That is going to be our focus.”

Next, Gover shifted the conversation to China Grove’s mission statement. 

“Let’s talk about our mission,” Gover said. “We are going to enhance community life by delivering services with excellence, improving the well-being of all and contributing to a prosperous shared future.”

What exactly did Gover mean by excellence?”

“When we are out doing our jobs, police, fire, public works, anything that you do, any service that you encounter in your work life or personal life, what is excellence?” Gover said before pointing to a comment from marketing mind Seth Godin. “Excellence is simply a service that is done from the perspective of someone who cares. That’s all it is. That is the difference between an OK service and an excellent service, that the service is being provided by someone who cares.”

The core values Gover mentioned include: fairness, integrity, respect and empathy, engagement, and transparency. 

The Strategic Plan’s focus areas and objectives are managed growth, strong relationships, a healthy community, financial stewardship and organizational excellence.

To give an example of how those objectives look:

Objective 1.1 is to develop and maintain public facilities. That objective includes a list of potential activities: develop self-funding road maintenance plan; create facilities and equipment maintenance plan; review town buildings to align capacity of facilities and equipment with growth demands, such as exploring adding a fire station.

In Focus Area 3 (healthy community), one of the objectives is to expand access to open spaces. Potential activities in that category include: explore acquiring land for a China Grove sportsplex; Maintain (and expand, when possible) park space and infrastructure; expand paved greenways and marked walking trails; encourage downtown vitality through such measures as provide access to public restroom

In a statement included in the Strategic Plan, Mayor Rodney Phillips said, “China Grove continues to rapidly transform, and I am honored and humbled to lead our great little town into a new era. This Strategic Plan lays the groundwork for us to achieve the vision we have, ensuring that our infrastructure, services, and opportunities align with the needs of all of us. Together with our citizens, our businesses, our civic groups, and our government, we will become the preferred place for people to live, shop, dine, worship, work and enjoy life.”