We are pleased to announce the release of An Assessment of the North Carolina County Distress Rankings (Tiers), a comprehensive study evaluating the effectiveness of North Carolina’s County Distress Rankings System, commonly known as the Tiers System. This report, produced by NCGrowth and the ncIMPACT Initiative with support from the North Carolina Collaboratory, provides key insights into the system’s current application and offers recommendations for improvement. 

Key Findings: 

• Many stakeholders lack a deep understanding of the Tiers System and its objectives. 
• The system has little impact on actual economic development deals. 
• Originally designed for a single incentive program, the system is now used broadly across various state and nonprofit programs, often in ways that were not intended. 
• The methodology behind county tier designations is imprecise, leading to arbitrary groupings that do not accurately reflect economic distress. 
• The current calculation method fails to capture meaningful differences between counties, raising concerns about the validity of the rankings. 

A Call for Change: The findings suggest that the Tiers System, as currently structured, does not serve as an effective tool for economic development. Stakeholders have expressed a need for alternative models that are more tailored to specific policy goals. The report highlights several questions for future research, including exploring new methods of assessing economic distress and determining the most effective way to allocate resources. 

Looking Ahead: As discussions on the future of North Carolina’s economic development policies continue, this report serves as a crucial resource for policymakers, business leaders, and community stakeholders. By rethinking how economic distress is measured and addressed, North Carolina has an opportunity to implement more strategic and equitable solutions for economic growth. 

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