Central Pines Regional Council is partnering with the UNC School of Government to offer Fundamental Supervisory Practices, a highly interactive training designed to help local government supervisors lead effectively in today’s complex workplace. Participants will gain practical tools for communication, performance management, coaching employees, and navigating key employment laws, while also developing a stronger understanding of their own leadership style. The course is held in person across four full-day sessions on April 13–14 and April 20–21 (9:00 am – 5:00 pm each day).

Thanks to this partnership, CPRC member governments can register at more than 50% off the course’s typical $1,750 cost, with additional discounts available for organizations participating in the CPRC Human Resources Consortium. This represents a significant professional development opportunity for supervisors across the region. Seats are limited, so early registration is strongly encouraged to take advantage of the discounted rate.

From a NC Commerce’s February 18 post:

“How is my county doing economically? And are we getting better? These are two common questions we receive about North Carolina’s economy. The answers are harder to nail down than they should be. Single indicators like unemployment or income tell only part of the story. National datasets often lack county-level detail. Without consistent benchmarks, it’s difficult to know whether local conditions reflect broader trends or something unique to the community.

The County Economic Vitality Index developed by NC Commerce’s Labor & Economic Analysis Unit (LEAD) is designed to help to address this gap. It provides a transparent, comparable measure of county economic performance that tracks progress over time and benchmarks results against the nation. While no single measure can completely explain the complexities of a state or regional economy, the Index is designed to be an intuitive starting point, accessible to general audiences.”

Besides the blog post, there is also a companion article here with some interesting insights about North Carolina. I am going to pull out some data for our 7-county region.

So, at the county scale, most of CPRC's counties are close to the national average or higher. Lee County is the "lowest" at 93.63 (compared to 100 being the national average) and Wake County is the highest at 117.06. Durham and Chatham's surprised me the most. On the NC Tier ranking, Chatham is usually second, but here it is 4th in the region and 8th in NC. Durham being second in the Region and the state was also interesting.

There were only 11 counties with a composite score over 100 in NC. I have listed them here in descending order.

1. Wake
2. Durham
3. Union
4. Mecklenburg
5. Orange
6. Currituck
7. Camden
8. Chatham
9. Iredell
10. Johnston
11. New Hanover

Counties in CPRC are bolded.