Mr. Goins, how long have you lived in Mooresville?
Uhh…[since] 1990.
Great.
So that
would be…22 years.
Great! And would you mind sharing some of
your experiences or background in business in Mooresville?
In
Mooresville…yes, I’ve been a financial advisor…golly, I was a financial advisor
for…let me count it up…10 years, I guess about 10 years…12 years, about 12
years. And this past year, I went with Randy Marion Automotive. I was their
Director of Operations. So that’s pretty much been the business activity in
Mooresville. Now, before that, I traveled for a long, long time in my life, but
just in Mooresville, mostly as a financial advisor.
Okay, that’s great. What are some changes
you’ve seen in Mooresville’s business?
Oh my
goodness…well, I can give you some good “for instances.” When we moved here…when
we got married in 1992…were you born in 1992?
No, sir.
I didn’t
think so. Well, let me tell you, there was only 8,000 people that lived in
Mooresville city limits in 1992, at the end of 1992. And as of about a month
ago [March 2012], there’s 34,000 people in Mooresville city limits. So that’s
how much the city has grown, and what’s really interesting is that there are
two zip codes in this city, and the population of the two zip codes is over
75,000 people. So a lot has happened since the end of 1992. So this community
has gone from a community to a, well, it’s called a micropolitan city, but it’s
really past that now with its population. A lot of it’s racing, a lot of it’s
Lowes Corporate. It’s not really a “bedroom community.” People used to call it
a “bedroom community,” meaning that people who lived here worked in Charlotte. Not
the case, you know…a lot of businesses have moved into this community, so yeah,
it’s really grown. Not as much racing now as it used to be because of the
economy, but still, it’s crazy how the population has grown.
Did you ever imagine it growing as it has?
No, it’s
just like right here where you’re sitting: when we picked this place, we picked
the “country.” We thought, well, we’re going to move over here because there’s
not many people over here. Look at it now. I mean, we’ve got a development one
mile from here that has over 1200 homes in it. So I never imagined it. I don’t
think any of us did, so yeah…change. This place has just been crazy, you know,
and I don’t see it changing. I see it getting bigger and bigger. If you don’t
like it, you better move further North. You better get North of Statesville! But
yeah. Really, really a lot of…I think education has gotten a lot better here, and
I just see it getting bigger and better.
How do you see education has gotten better
here? What are some examples?
The biggest
example I would use as far as Mooresville City, Mooresville Graded School
District is every kid from third grade up has a laptop now. And it is amazing,
the kids who were not able to have laptops – financially able – now have them. We
pay the insurance to protect those laptops if they’re not able to pay the insurance,
we have a fund. I’m on a board that…we have a financial fund that we have to
help pay those things so that every kid is able to do their work on a laptop
and you go into the classroom and they’ve got SmartBoards and all of this is
over my head. But it’s just amazing what’s going on in the classrooms. So our
scores, our test scores are going way, way up, and I think we’re…the last test
results showed us third, almost second, in the state, and we’re really close to
Chapel Hill, which has always been “the” school system in the state, as far as
public education. So yeah, our school system is going great. And Iredell County
is doing as well. Their system is doing great as well. They do not have a
laptop initiative. We owe that to our Superintendent. He’s a salesman. He
convinced some people – Apple – he convinced them to let us be a test school,
and man, we’re talked about now with the Department of Education in Washington.
They use Mooresville now as a landmark school system for laptops. So yeah,
education is getting great around here. Mitchell Community College and Rowan –
good stuff.
What are some things you see in
Mooresville’s future?
I see more
headquarters, company headquarters. I see more company headquarters coming
here. We’ve got a great Mooresville-South Iredell economic development
structure set up and I see a lot of company headquarters moving to Mooresville.
It’s going to continue to grow and I can visualize one day all of the city
limits from Charlotte coming here and you won’t be able to tell a difference. I
don’t really like that part, but I can’t stop that, and you know, we can’t stop
growth. And where we are situated, being on I-77 sitting between I-85 and I-40,
it’s a perfect spot for company headquarters to come. So I see more company
headquarters coming. It’s going to get, some people call it worse, some call it
better, but I see more opportunity coming. We’ll probably retire and move
somewhere by then, but it is coming. It’s going to get bigger and bigger! Mooresville,
one day, is going to be, I’d say one of the five, ten max, largest cities in
the state. And most people would never think that, but it’s going to happen. It
really is.
For the final question, kind of going back
in time, what is your fondest memory of Mooresville?
The
beginning [laughs]. When I first moved here, there wasn’t a lot going on. It
was just a quaint little community and…yeah, that would be my fondest memories,
when it was real quiet, and everybody sort of knew everybody. You know, now
when we go to church, we don’t know hardly anyone. But that would be my fondest
memories that I would have, when it was “small town.” When it was just a small
town, because we always liked it when it is real personable. It’s not that way
anymore, you know…but business-wise, my fondest memory was when I quit
traveling and came to work, started working locally in the town. But I think
it’s just the way this town used to be, to me, was the best of all. It’s not
that way anymore, but it’s still a great place, you know. We just have to adapt
to change. 
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