Sampson County Demographic Forecast Forum

Understanding Disruptive Demographic Challenges & How to Invest for Positive Economic Impact

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Sampson County Exposition Center
414 Warsaw Road, Clinton, NC

You are invited to Participate!

Registration begins at 7:30 am, with the program kicking off at 8:30 am. The registration fee is $40* per person. (*Plus, ticket processing fees) Tickets are currently on sale. The deadline to register is Thursday, March 6, 2025. Seating is limited.

For more information, contact Ray Jordan, Executive Director, Sampson County Economic Development, rjordan@sampsonedc.com or 910-592-8921.

REGISTER NOW!

Information about the event:

Two speakers who are experts in their respective fields will share current data regarding the demographic trends, challenges, and opportunities that face our County, State, and region. This information will allow us to initiate informed and focused conversations among community leaders on how to help Sampson County grow, prosper, and meet the ever-changing needs of the community while working to increase the non-residential tax base, meet and enhance educational opportunities, and develop a skilled workforce that can help sustain a healthy and vibrant economy for Sampson County residents.

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Session I: Business Alert: Gale Force Demographic Wind Gusts Ahead

In this session, Dr. James Johnson will share data regarding seven powerful demographic trends, analogous to gale force wind gusts in an adverse weather event that constitute potentially powerful disruptors of business, commerce, and education in the years ahead. Four of the gale-force demographic disruptors; slowing total and foreign-born population growth; white population loss; and declining fertility have evolved over the past several decades. The remaining three; deaths of despair, involuntary retirements, and declining labor force participation, are rooted in recent crises that have created a major demographic depression in the United States. Failure to address these forces has enormous implications for workforce development, a prime driver of U.S. business competitiveness in an ever-changing and increasingly diverse global marketplace.

Session II: Impact Investing as a Strategic Imperative

This will be led by Jeanne Milliken Bonds. Paralleling an emergent trend in the world of business, public entities across the U.S. are  increasingly embracing  triple bottom line (people, planet, & prosperity) sustainability as an antidote to a host of social, economic, and environmental challenges and leveraging diverse sources of capital to address challenges resulting from changing demographics, a legacy community disinvestment, and climate change, which are contributing to growing income and wealth inequality, structurally changing the workforce, and stymieing economic growth in both urban and rural communities.  Making matters worse, gentrification-induced economic and residential dislocations in many areas are creating major housing, employment, and transportation problems for some long-term residents, including civil servants and teachers, who can no longer afford to live in such communities.

Session III: Strategic Thinking about Demographic Disruptors and Mobilizing for Impact Investments

Johnson and Bonds will lead attendees in a facilitated group discussion addressing how impact investing tools and resources can be leveraged to promote and advance economic development in Sampson County.

About the Speaker - Dr. James H. Johnson

James H. Johnson, Jr. – Dr. Johnson is the William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of strategy and entrepreneurship and director of the Urban Investment Strategies Center at the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise.

His research interests include community and economic development, the effects of demographic changes on the U.S. workplace, interethnic minority conflict in advanced industrial societies, urban poverty and public policy in urban America, and workforce diversity issues.

Dr. Johnson and Dr. John D. Kasarda coauthored “The Economic Impact of the African American Population on the State of North Carolina” and a study on the economic impact of North Carolina’s Hispanic population. With support from the Russell Sage Foundation, Dr. Johnson published research on the economic impact of Sept. 11 on U.S. metropolitan communities. Currently he is researching the economic and employment impact of white-collar job shifts offshore on U.S. competitiveness.

Dr. Johnson examines the causes and consequences of growing inequality in American society, particularly as it affects socially and economically disadvantaged youth; entrepreneurial approaches to poverty alleviation, job creation, and community development; inter-ethnic minority conflict in advanced industrial societies; and business demography and workforce diversity issues.

He has published more than one hundred scholarly research articles and three research monographs and has co-edited four theme issues of scholarly journals on these and related topics. His latest book is “Prismatic Metropolis: Inequality in Los Angles.” He received his PhD from Michigan State University, his MS from the University of Wisconsin at Madison and his BS from North Carolina Central University.

About the Speaker - Jeanne Milliken Bonds

Jeanne Milliken Bonds – Ms. Bonds is Professor of the Practice, Impact Investment, and Sustainable Finance, UNC Kenan Flagler Business School. She is leading a new initiative, “Invest to Sustain,” to increase community and business capacity to enact social impact investing.

She is the former Senior Leader in Regional Community Development for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. In her previous role, she provided leadership for strategic stakeholder collaboration and community-level solutions, focusing on low- and moderate-income and underserved communities in support of the Federal Reserve System’s Community Development function. Jeanne led several Federal Reserve System teams, including a team focused on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) and a team focused on rural policy issues.

She has a B.A. in Economics and an M.P.A. (concentration in public policy) from the University of N.C. at Chapel Hill. In 1997, she was North Carolina’s recipient of the national Henry Toll Fellowship from the Council of State Governments. Jeanne is a former Mayor.

Agenda

7:30 am – 8:30 am: Registration & Networking

(Coffee/Donuts Sponsored by Clinton 100 Committee)

8:30 am – 8:45 am: Welcome & Introductions

8:45 am – 10:15 am: Business Alert: Gale Force Demographic Wind Gusts Ahead

Dr. James H. Johnson

Seven powerful demographic trends, analogous to gale force wind gusts in an adverse weather event constitute potentially powerful disruptors of business, commerce, and education in the years ahead. Four of the gale-force demographic disruptors; slowing total and foreign-born population growth; white population loss; and declining fertility have evolved over the past several decades. The remaining three; deaths of despair, involuntary retirements, and declining labor force participation, are rooted in recent crises that have created a major demographic depression in the United States. Failure to address these forces has enormous implications for workforce development, a prime driver of U.S. business competitiveness in an ever-changing and increasingly diverse global marketplace.

Learning Opportunities

10:15 am – 10:30 am: Break

10:30 am – 12:00 pm: Impact Investing as a Strategic Imperative

Dr. Jeanne Milliken Bonds

Paralleling an emergent trend in the world of business, public entities across the U.S. are  increasingly embracing  triple bottom line (people, planet, & prosperity) sustainability as an antidote to a host of social, economic, and environmental challenges and leveraging diverse sources of capital to address challenges resulting from changing demographics, a legacy community disinvestment,  and climate change, which are contributing to growing income and wealth inequality, structurally changing the workforce, and stymieing economic growth in both urban and rural communities.  Making matters worse, gentrification-induced economic and residential dislocations in many areas are creating major housing, employment, and transportation problems for some long-term residents, including civil servants and teachers, who can no longer afford to live in such communities.

Learning Opportunities

12:00 am – 12:30 pm: Lunch & Reflections on Morning Sessions

(Luncheon sponsored by Clinton 100 Committee)

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm: Facilitated Group Discussion

Dr. James H. Johnson & Dr. Jeanne Milliken Bonds

Strategic Thinking about Demographic Disruptors: Mobilizing for Impact Investments

Facilitated Group Discussion Question - How can impact investing tools and resources be leveraged to promote and advance economic development in Sampson County?

1:30 pm: Questions, Comments, and Closing Remarks

The Forum is made possible through the financial support of the following sponsors: Star Communications, Duke Energy, Four County Electric Membership Corporation, South River EMC, and the North Carolina Southeast Partnership. The Clinton 100 Committee is the sponsor of the opening Registration & Networking session and the event luncheon.

Star Communications

Star Communications

Duke Energy

Duke Energy

North Carolina's Southeast

NC Southeast Partnership

Four County Electric Membership Corporation

Four County Electric Membership Corporation

South River Electric Membership Corporation

South River EMC

About the Speakers

Dr. James H. Johnson

Dr. James H. Johnson

William Rand Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Jeanne Milliken Bonds

Dr. Jeanne Milliken Bonds

Professor of Practice, Impact Investment and Sustainable Finance, Kenan-Flagler Business School and UNC Public Policy, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill