MIDLAND – When Midland Town Council recently met for its annual retreat, members had a lot of successes to discuss.

Throughout last year and the beginning of 2017, Town Manager Doug Paris said Midland has been put on the map.

“We had a lot to talk about,” Paris said. “In the past year we were not only put on the map in Cabarrus County, but now we are on the world map.”

The meeting was held on Saturday, Feb. 18 and council gathered to discuss how the town has met its goals that were set during last year’s retreat. Those goals were to continue to recruit new industries, increase services for citizens and increase social media presence.

In the new industries and growth department, Paris said council had a lot to talk about. In just the past few months the town became home to Rob Wallace Park, the largest Cabarrus County-owned park, and Corning announced it plans to add 200 new jobs.

Corning Optical Communications is a worldwide provider of fiber optic communication solutions for voice, data and video networks. The company announced it will spend $109 million to expand its existing optical fiber manufacturing facility in Midland.

“Now with this expansion, we are home to the biggest fiber optic manufacturing facility in the world,” Paris said. “The community is super excited about that.”

Paris also added that Intertape Polymer Corporation, which invested $40 million on a site near U.S. 601 and Wallace Road in Midland, plans to bring about 50 jobs to the town. Paris said the company is almost done with construction on the facility.

“Between Corning and Interstate Polymer Group, you are looking at 250 new jobs,” Paris said. “We are really pleased. These successes are related to the town goal to continue to recruit new industrial and commercial development to Midland so we can have local jobs.”

Midland also made great strides to provide citizens with services by creating a partnership with Rowan-Cabarrus Community College to hold classes at Town Hall and adding a mobile library.

Although the library is only open every other Monday right now, Paris said he has been pleased with the amount of traffic so far.

“It’s been very busy. We’ve been very pleased,” Paris said. “We are providing services for citizens. And the park is also a service. It has been packed. Everyone loves to take their dogs and go through the trails.”

The other goal that council discussed during the meeting was increasing communication strategies by creating a new brand for the town and increasing activity on social media sites.

Paris said the town has made sure that it is more active on Facebook and Twitter and uses those mediums to get information out to citizens.

“Part of the goal was to improve our social media presence in order to get information out. All of our citizens, like everyone else, are on their phones all of the time checking social media,” Paris said. “We are getting out information about the services we offer, new jobs coming and job fairs that citizens can attend. We have found social media to be very effective.”

Another part of the meeting was discussing goals for 2017. Paris said the council largely wanted to keep the same goals the town already has, since they have been so successful.

These goals will be officially approved during an upcoming town council meeting.