The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

June 19, 2009

Economic recruiters sound optimistic

KIMBERLY BELLAMY

Executives with Carolinas Gateway Partnership told the Tarboro Rotary Club Thursday about potential businesses coming to Edgecombe County and how the area could attract more in the future.

Carolinas Gateway CEO and President John Gessaman and Vice President Oppie Jordan gave the Rotary Club a rundown on what the Nash and Edgecombe County economic development partnership does and its recent prospects.

Jordan said that she currently has 12 projects she's working on, pointing out to Tarboro Manager Sam Noble that "six, six of them are in Tarboro."

Also out of the 12, five of them are looking at possibly establishing operations within the Kingsboro Road industrial complex off U.S. 64, Jordan said.

Although she said she could not give too much detail about businesses looking into establishing operations within the county, Jordan said that a "furniture-related" venture could bring 1,200 jobs, and $80 million in investment, to Edgecombe.

Among other companies looking to possibly invest in Edgecombe County is a high-quality sewing operation, military defense contractors, as well as a high-tech company that isn't looking to build "your typical call center," Jordan said.

Gessaman added that with one company looking at Edgecombe, its officials are telling its partners that they "have to have a U.S.-based operation to get our business," as opposed to commonplace off-shore operations.

He also noted that, despite the higher than 15 percent unemployment rate in Edgecombe, businesses looking at the county are doing so because of the warehouse and building infrastructures shuttered and left behind years ago.

But for companies that do deal overseas, Gessaman pointed out that Edgecombe County is centrally located between seaports at Hampton Roads, Va., and Wilmington. As for education and training, he said Edgecombe's centrally located between research and education hubs at East Carolina University in Greenville and the Big Three in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill.

"I see our area as being the hub of that," Gessaman added.

Jordan said that within the county, Edgecombe Community College "plays a significant role" in attracting industries, by providing training and skill sets useful to employers.

Gessaman added that as geographic concentrations in business become less important, "the kinds of skills a community has ... that's what's going to drive economic development in the future."

Gessaman also said that, despite the job losses and manufacturing businesses that have shuttered over the last 10, 12 years, businesses have moved into the county that, he thought, wouldn't have been predicted a decade ago.

He pointed to food processors Sara Lee and MBM (in Rocky Mount), along with Honda-affiliated manufacturer Keihin CST, as examples of those businesses.

"We have some very, very good things happening" in economic development in Edgecombe, he added.

Along with those developments, Gessaman said that other important developments for local economies are how hospitals and medical facilities can become economic drivers.

"(They) could qualify as a base industry" because they draw people from outside the immediate communities, Gessaman said.

As an organization, Gessaman told the Rotary Club that Carolinas Gateway's job is to attract business to Nash and Edgecombe counties. He said that Nash and Edgecombe counties, along with Nashville, Rocky Mount and Tarboro, provide the funding for the organization, along with 200 private businesses in the area.

When asked if the property tax rate comes into heavy consideration to attract new businesses, particularly when Edgecombe County's rate is significantly higher than Nash County's, Gessaman and Jordan said that it is not an issue.

County Commissioners Vice Chairman Charlie Harrell added that businesses take electricity, water and gas utility rates into much heavier consideration when deciding whether to move into an area. Edgecombe's new tax rate is 86 cents per $100 of property value, down from 94 cents. Nash County's tax rate is 67 cents, down from 70 cents.

Harrell added that, as a Tier 1 county, Edgecombe can offer "millions" of dollars more in incentives than can Tier 2 Nash County.

On that point, Gessaman said that because of how economic conditions have deteriorated across the country, "more communities are going to develop these great incentive plans" to attract new business, any business, to their area.

Still, he added that Edgecombe County needs to "think more about communities beyond our immediate borders" to develop partnerships with for the sake of attracting economic development.

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