Columbus County reports $6.68 million in recent economic-development awards, highlights site-readiness work

Columbus County economic development officials on Tuesday reported securing about $6,677,000 in grant funding over the past two years and outlined a portfolio of site-preparation work intended to attract manufacturers and other employers.

Economic development director Gary Lanier said the grants include site-search and due-diligence awards, a PADD Ready Site grant, a Golden Leaf due-diligence grant and a $1,500,000 Industrial Development Fund award through the North Carolina Department of Commerce. Lanier said an EDA (Economic Development Administration) award helped extend water lines and pay for wells, and a $590,000 Golden Leaf site-development grant is targeted to a 38-acre parcel on Midway Road.

The report matters because county officials said the grants fund infrastructure—roads, water and sewer—viewed as prerequisites for landing the kinds of industrial projects that staff say are likely to look for 11- to 50-acre parcels and buildings with 30-foot ceiling heights.

Lanier told the board the county’s recent grant wins include a $50,000 due-diligence award, a $202,000 PADD Ready Site grant run through North Carolina Southeast and what he described as a $2.15 million EDA contribution to extend water and add wells. He said the county used Golden Leaf funding to clear a 15-acre parcel, obtain DEQ stormwater permits and prepare a 50,000-square-foot building pad.

Lanier and other staff noted several ongoing and pending projects: a roughly $2.5 million building in Tabor City (a public–private reuse project), continuing brownfields work funded by a $600,000 EPA grant, and recruitment efforts that have yielded two unnamed prospects the county could not yet publicly describe (estimated to total about 250 jobs if both land here).

The presentation also reviewed the county’s inventory of available buildings: a 230,000-square-foot building on old 74, a 142,000-square-foot shell in another area and a 40,000-square-foot building on Flitter Hill Road. Lanier said older buildings often lack modern ceiling heights and other features demanded by today’s manufacturers.

Public commenter Harold Lofton Cox urged the board to act preemptively on public-safety and infrastructure needs tied to rapid growth, noting a large recent land sale on N.C. 905 and saying: “Are you gonna act before something happens and get money to do this when it comes in, or are you gonna react?”

Lanier and commissioners discussed long lead times for regional wastewater and water projects; Lanier said some proposals are three- to five-year projects. Commissioners and staff repeatedly returned to the need for a marketable shell building and clarified that smaller buildings (20,000–100,000 square feet) and 11–50 acre parcels are the market segment Columbus County is targeting.

County staff said they will continue to work with North Carolina Southeast, the state Commerce Department and local partners to refine sites, pursue grants and prepare an MOU or other protections when public funds are invested on land owned by nonprofits or third parties.

Ending: Staff said they will return to the board with additional details on specific projects as negotiations progress and when confidentiality around prospect sites is no longer required.