Welcome to the website of Sherry Wilborn, Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), Person County native, and Republican candidate for Person County Commissioner!
There's much I want to share about my path to candidacy and plans for the future - and I do just that below - but here's a brief introduction for any who may not know me:
I am a Person County native who grew up in the City Lake community as Sherry Clayton. I graduated from Person Senior High in 1992 and later obtained an Associates Degree in Information Systems from Piedmont Community College. In 2002, I married my husband of the past 22 years, Jimmy Wilborn, who is a Lieutenant with the Person County Sheriff's Office. We have two sons, JT (21), and Jack (18 and able to cast a vote for his mom in his first election!) and have lived in Timberlake for the past 7 years.
I have spent the past decade heavily involved with Person County's growth and development, largely through my employment with the Person County Economic Development Department, and most recently in the private sector as a commercial real estate broker affiliated with APG Advisors and as a local government and business consultant through Rural Advantage, LLC.
I know what an amazing place Person County is and how much opportunity we have here. I am thrilled that my sons want to stay and build their futures here, and I want to bring my knowledge of our local assets and my network of relationships locally and across the region and state to ensure that they - and others like them who want to make Person County home - have abundant opportunities to grow and thrive here.
I greatly appreciate your interest and support!
-Sherry
INTRODUCTION
Accomplishments and Accolades
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Secured over $90 million in capital investment and a record number of jobs/announcement (totaling more than 650)
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Obtained more than $2 million in infrastructure grants for industrial product development
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Person County's 1st Female Economic Development Director
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Internationally accredited as a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) by the International Economic Development Council
Experience
Regardless of party, every candidate for Commissioner always runs on Economic Development.
My experience includes a decade of local economic development experience and a network of hundreds of economic development professionals across the region, state, and country.
I have traveled with regional and state economic development groups to promote Person County across the US.
I have attended, watched, or reviewed the minutes of nearly every County Commissioner meeting over the last 10 years and am abreast of issues that the County has faced and opportunities that are available for the future.
As a former department director, I have knowledge and experience in the government and budget process, as well as laws affecting local government capabilities and decisions.
I have the ability to hit the ground running with no learning curve and no risk of disillusionment that new commissioners with no government background often run into, in many cases causing apathy.
Vision
Having government knowledge and experience does not need to equate to bureaucracy. In the right hands, the tools available to local governments will lead to smaller, more efficient government.
I intend to leverage the resources available only to the public sector to make our community more attractive for private sector investment and to provide more opportunity for citizens and business owners and more flexibility for property owners.
North Carolina has 100 counties and 552 municipalities. This means Person County is unique in having only one municipality. This should make it easier for both local elected bodies to come together with a shared vision and create momentum for Roxboro and Person County.
When I was Economic Development Director for Person County, I attended the monthly night meetings of the Roxboro City Council on a routine basis on my own time, because I understood that the elected body that controls public water and sewer, as well as housing growth, is the real economic engine for the County.
The one place that these two elected boards overlap is on the Economic Development Commission. This means that the candidate who can have the most impact is the one with the most institutional and historical knowledge of the these two elected boards combined with economic development experience and relationships.
Commitment
In a span of 9 years, I was promoted from part-time administrative support to Economic Development Specialist to Interim Director to Director and acquired the Certified Economic Developer credential. My final promotion to ED Director was after a selection process involving the entire 15-member EDC board.
In my first 15 months leading the office, I led the successful recruitment of POLYWOOD, which became the largest jobs and investment announcement in the county in at least 2 decades. During those months, I also applied for and received a state grant for over $1M for a waterline constructed to the Person County Mega Park. I also worked to move our department from 2 offices in the County Office Building to a dedicated office building to allow for greater confidentiality to economic development prospects and more efficiency for serving the Economic Development Commission. I worked with web developers to create the EDC website that is still in use at the time of this writing, all while being the lone employee in the department. I ran the department through COVID shutdowns, a cyber-attack, and a hostile political climate without losing my resolve to persevere and produce. Other accomplishments during my leadership tenure include other grants for product development nearing $1M in value, supporting the permitting and certification process for the Person County Mega Park, increasing transparency and visibility outside the County through creating and managing social media accounts for the department as well as an interactive development map on the EDC website.
At the conclusion of my 9th year, I put my money where my mouth is and jumped over to the private sector in a role that would allow me to continue to support and promote the many opportunities in Person County outside of our borders.
Over the past 15+ months since leaving my role with Person County Government, I have remained engaged with City and County elected boards, as well as advisory boards and key staff and have continued to pursue new investments for Person County.
I have demonstrated my commitment and plan to continue to do so through public service.
MEDIA
See more about my involvement with and promotion of Person County both as an employee and since...
Leadership Roles
VISUAL RESUME
During this election season, voters will need to select the 3 most-qualified of 5 candidates vying to fill seats on the County Commission board. These candidates will be representatives of Person County to its citizens and to those outside. Here are more examples through captioned photos of how I have been that for many years and continue to be.
(Photos taken by Sherry, sent to Sherry for use at the time of photo, or taken from the public domain.)
