Sequoyah County had the 12th fastest growth in population in the state from 2000 to 2006, according to numbers released by the Oklahoma Census Data Center last month.
Sequoyah County's estimated population grew from 38,972 as of April 1, 2000, to 41,400 as of July 1, 2006, the Oklahoma Census Data Center reported, which is a growth rate of 6.1 percent.
Rogers County grew at a rate of 16.7 percent over the same time period, which was the fastest growth of the state's 77 counties.
Sequoyah County's growth raised it from the 14th fastest growing county in the state to the 12th, according to the state's figures.
Sallisaw Mayor Shannon Vann said the county offers "a good value" to those moving into the county. And with that comes growth in other areas for the county's cities and towns.
"Sallisaw has a chance over the next 20 years to become more of a center of commerce from the standpoint of retail businesses and services offered to the people," Vann said.
District 1 Commissioner Bruce Tabor of Muldrow, said he sees the growth in the number of roads he must build and maintain in his district.
"Most of the growth is there" in the east end of the county, which is Tabor's district, he said. "There is a lot of building going on in my district. I see a lot of new faces."
Tabor said industries like Therma Tru and the Cherokee Casino in Roland and the OK Foods chicken processing plant in Muldrow "have brought in a lot of people." The easy access to Fort Smith, Ark., is also attracting new people and prompting new home construction.
But from Tabor's point of view, that means he has more roads and streets to worry about.
The increasing population "is causing a lot of stress on the roads," Tabor said. "If we can maintain our sales tax funding and keep our funding coming in from the state, we can keep up with the population growth.
"But population growth is good in some ways, and it is pretty much all over my district
