Leaders came from what's being called the all American Defense Corridor. Mayor, county commissioners and military leaders were on hand for the meeting.
The BRAC Regional Task Force met Friday morning to show how 25,000 to 40,000 new residents will impact the area.
"Forty thousand people generate a lot of activities," Congressman Robin Hayes said. "Nothing happens until somebody sells something. The opportunity to sell something internally because of relocation is huge."
Communities are expecting several contractors to follow two major military commands from the Atlanta area to Fort Bragg. The economic impact could be tremendous.
"We're telling those people who are considering moving here, considering locating businesses here, about the great city and counties that we have and the wonderful quality of life that we have," Fayetteville Mayor Tony Chavonne said. "So we think we have a great story to tell and we're looking forward to telling it."
Experts say the area surrounding Fort Bragg will see more growth in five years than would normally be expected in two decades.
While the task force says planning is on schedule, it admits one of the biggest problems is the lack of schools.
"We know that we're going to have a huge increase in school population," Task Force Paul Dordal said. "We don't have enough funding for new capital construction for these schools and we're going to have to seek out that funding."
Congressman Bob Ethridge said, "We need to be planning for brick and mortar. But also it's going to mean we're going to have to do a good job of laying out where is our staff coming from? We're going to need more people -- more teachers. We're going to have more administrators."
The task force put together a DVD to show people who are getting ready to move into this area what they can expect. To view the video and the full BRAC Reports, click here.
