Pierce County Economic Development: Leading the Way in Progress

Pierce County is a special place. We’re progressive, yet focused on families. As we grow, countless organizations, together with resident advocates, are striving to make the communities within our borders stronger for future generations. Pierce County Economic Development (PCED) has a special role to play in our community. We bring diverse stakeholders and communities together, focus on strategic planning and the implementation and funding of initiatives that will lead to long term, sustained economic growth and prosperity for our residents.

We have won four awards for innovative economic development for our community. This includes: A national award for Economic Development Excellence, a regional award for Economic Development Excellence, the Showcase Community of the Year Award for Plainview, and the USDA Rural Innovation Community Challenge.

Entrepreneur Initiatives in Pierce County

In the last 5 years 42 new businesses have opened in Pierce County with the assistance of PCED. Our organization also helps businesses with succession planning to ensure that as people retire, new entrepreneurs can take their place and keep the business doors open. We have transitioned 5 businesses to new ownership in the past 5 years and have helped another 7 expand their operations.

These businesses have created an additional 95 full time and 69 part time jobs. PCED’s work has also contributed to the retention of 22 jobs, for a total of 186 jobs created or retained across the county in the past 5 years.

Downtown Revitalization

PCED has focused on downtown revitalization through building renovations, new construction projects and entrepreneur programs. For example, Plainview and Pierce received $1,255,000 in grant funds for downtown revitalization in 2019, 2020 and 2022. In addition, 20 historic downtown buildings have been sold in the  last five years to new business owners.

Grants 

With assistance from PCED Piece County and its partners, communities received $4,238,038 dollars in grants in the last 5 years for community placemaking activities, housing, revitalization, and entrepreneurship. See who received a grant in recent years here.