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The Southeast
“Most of our projects are $5 million or less,” explains Paul G. Butler Jr., an energetic ex-military officer who heads Elizabethtown-based North Carolina’s Southeast. “That’s our niche. Our target industries are plastics, poultry, woodworking, boats and metalworking. We focus on those, but we’re not limited to them. We are also working to recruit distribution centers.”
Brunswick County, with more than 35 golf courses and 50 miles (80 km.) of beaches, is one of the Southeast’s success stories.
“For a long time, our economy was tourism-based and rural,” says J. Steven Johnson, director of the Brunswick County Economic Development Commission. “Just 10 years ago, Brunswick County’s industrial base consisted of a DuPont plant and a Carolina Power & Light plant. But we’ve attracted 60 industries in the past 10 years.”
About two years ago, Oconto, Wis.-based KCS International, which manufactures Rampage®, Shamrock® and other sportfishing yachts, was bursting at the seams. It had plants in Wisconsin and Florida, but it needed more production capacity. After evaluating 40 sites in five Southeastern states, it settled on a site along the Cape Fear River in Brunswick County.
“Our goal was to find a piece of property that was large enough to let us expand as needed, give us deep-water access to allow us to water-deliver new boats and have year-round, in-water boat-testing capabilities,” says company President Jim Viestenz. “The availability of a work force was also a key to us when considering this area. The area community colleges and the Industrial Training Center were very, very impressive.”
The company’s original plans called for a 200,000-sq.-ft. (18,600-sq.-m.) plant with 500 employees. “But then the firm decided to bring in a line of bigger craft, and then yet another line,” Johnson says. “Now the facility will cover 340,000 sq. ft. (31,600 sq. m.), employ 700 and involve a capital investment of $20 million.” North Carolina’s Southeast and Brunswick Community College have leased 20,000 sq. ft. (1,858 sq. m.) of training space for the firm while its plant is under construction.
“The first 100 people hired will be very skilled,” Johnson says. “With a craft like this, it’s basically like building a fine house, then surrounding it with fiberglass.”
The financial assistance package provided underscores North Carolina’s effective state-local cooperation. Brunswick County provided $300,000, while the state tapped several financing programs for $500,000 to renovate the site, supplemented by a $75,000 Governor’s Competitive Fund grant. And development officials tapped federal sources for still more assistance.
In other big moves, New Jersey-based Quickie Manufacturing has selected Lumberton, in Robeson County, for a 200,000-sq.-ft. (18,600-sq.-m.) household cleaning products assembly and distribution facility.
“North Carolina’s outstanding business climate, combined with its high standard of living and key geographic location, make this state an excellent home for our new facility,” says company President and CEO Peter Vosbikian.
“Quickie is the largest assembler and distributor of cleaning appliances in the United States,” says Kirk Mattson, economic development director for the city of Lumberton. “It now has about 250 permanent employees here, plus another 150 or 160 temporary employees who work nine or 10 months of the year. But it’s looking to expand by 50 percent, adding another 110,000 sq. ft. (10,200 sq. m.).”
The North Carolina Dept. of Commerce and Fantus consultants connected Quickie with local development officials. “Then we worked on the project with the Southeast Partnership, our local leaders, Robeson Community College, our Committee of 100 and utility representatives,” Mattson says.
In Sampson County, a 23,000-sq.-ft. (2,100-sq.-m.) available building proved just the ticket for Arrow/Stevens, which relocated from Pennsylvania to the former Whisper Knit facility in Clinton. Arrow/Stevens makes a full line of hardware for single and double-hung windows.
“North Carolina’s Southeast put the building on its Internet site, and the company found it,” Sampson County Commissioner Kermit Williamson says. “Arrow/Stevens liked Clinton’s proximity to I-40 and I-95, and the building was the right size and price.” The facility is located in the Sampson Southeastern Business Complex, a 400-acre (162-hectare) site with underground utilities.
“The economic development officials in North Carolina seemed to offer more information than the people in the other states we were considering,” adds Ron Shumate, Arrow/Stevens vice president of operations. “And we were on a fast track to get the business up and going, so we needed a building that was ready to move into.”
From window hardware manufacturing to steel production, distribution, financial processing and more, Eastern North Carolina has the labor force, ready-to-go sites and helpful financing programs to help companies like yours create success stories too. SS
The huge installation, situated just northwest of Fayetteville, covers 251 sq. miles (648 sq. km.). With some 45,600 military personnel and 5,200 civilian employees, Fort Bragg is home to 10 percent of the entire U.S. Army.
Not only is Fort Bragg a key weapon in America’s line of defense, it’s an economic powerhouse. According to area development officials, its payroll is larger than that of the famed Research Triangle Park, with 50,000 permanent and contract employees, some 50 miles (80 km.) to the north.
With Fort Bragg purchasing enormous quantities of products on an ongoing basis, it essentially functions as a traditional basic industry, such as steel or auto production. Thus, opportunities abound for companies selling to Fort Bragg to locate manufacturing and other facilities nearby.
What’s more, the complex is constantly turning out qualified workers -- a big asset in today’s extremely tight labor market. “About 6,500 people leave Fort Bragg each year, as they complete their military service,” explains Paul G. Butler Jr., director of Elizabethtown-based North Carolina’s Southeast. “That’s approximately 600 skilled, disciplined people per month, or 125 per week. Fort Bragg is a great labor resource.
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The Southeast region, which includes the port city of Wilmington and a host of smaller communities, has been particularly successful in attracting small and medium-sized manufacturing and distribution facilities.
