Mt. Olive sees Haitian population boom following devastating earthquake

By: NBC17 Staff | MyNC
Published: January 23, 2012

MT. OLIVE, N.C. --

A town of Mt. Olive is seeing a positive economic impact from a population boom two years after an earthquake devastated Haiti.

Mt. Olive Town Manager Charles Brown estimates the community has seen its population surge 65 percent since the end of 2010, with most of the increase coming from Haitians moving to the area in search of work.

Brown says most took jobs at the meat processing and packing plants in the area -- including Butterball, Smithfield and House of Raeford. Some of the newcomers, he says, have even opened businesses, like Lubin's supermarket and Max's Grand Bistro Caribbean restaurant.

Brown says the Haitian population began increasing after the 2010 census, which estimated Mt. Olive's population at 4,600. Since then, he says unofficial reports from the Haitian community indicate as many as 3,000 Haitians live in Mt. Olive.

Brown, however, says he's not sure if that number is correct.

"I would question how widely dispersed that number is,” Brown said. “As I said, I could accept that figure if it was dispersed over four municipal areas. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that figure being exclusively in Mt. Olive."

Brown says the increased population has brought more business to existing stores in the area.

He says it's beyond the town's scope to do an official population count. And with the next census not until 2020, the town will likely check with schools and employers to try to get a more accurate population estimate.