Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 21:22:10 -0400
From: Gene Galin
Subject: State hopes to lure automaker with Chatham County ‘megasite’
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Last week, officials in Chatham County gathered for what they hope is the first step in the county’s economic transformation.
A 1,818-acre-site a few miles west of Siler City has been designated a “megasite,” which in economic development parlance means it will be used by local and state officials to try and lure a single, very large industrial user to the region.
While officials expect to market the property to a variety of industries, they are focusing their efforts squarely on automakers. An auto assembly plant would be historic both for the number of jobs it would create and for the amount of incentives that would be required to close such a deal.
Tim Booras, who runs a Greensboro-based beer distribution company, owns 1,275 acres of the megasite in western Chatham County. The property sits along the Chatham-Randolph County line, with about 20 acres of Booras’ land located in Randolph. The other 543 acres, including land along a rail spur, are owned by D.H. Griffin Sr.
Booras and Griffin have signed an agreement to keep their properties as a megasite for two years. It is currently the only site with that certification in North Carolina. The certification means the land can be ready for construction to begin within 12 months once a user commits.
There are several reasons for focusing on automakers, said Dianne Reid, president of the Chatham County Economic Development Corp. While North Carolina has a large number of auto parts manufacturers, it does not have an assembly plant while many neighboring states do.
Auto plants also create many more jobs than just the employees who work at the plant.
Reid estimated that an assembly plant would probably create close to 2,000 jobs initially with the possibility for more in the future.