The Washington area’s economy is attracting business owners across the nation.

QSR Magazine, a national publication for the restaurant market sector, recently released its seventh-annual The Growth 40. The Greenville-New Bern-Washington area was named in the top 15 of small markets nationwide in potential for limited-service restaurant expansion.

“It didn’t surprise me, and I like that it is regionally based and included us with New Bern and Greenville. There is a lot of potential in this region area and being included in this market is a plus for Washington,” said Catherine Glover, executive director of the Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce.

This area is expected to see a 5.3-percent increase in population growth by 2021, as well as a 13-percent growth in traffic, according to data released by the NPD Group, a consumer research service.

These factors, as well as the age-group mixture in Washington and a “vibrant corporate market,” are what caught the eye of Georgia-based pizza company Your Pie, according to Ken Caldwell, Your Pie’s vice president of development.

“Typically we see white collar workers for lunch who want a good lunch that they can get in and out of quickly, but we also want to be accessible to families and folks who typically come see us for dinner,” Caldwell said. “We target markets across the country that we feel like would be good places for our brand.”