Greene County approves incentives, state reuse grant for incoming manufacturer

Greene County commissioners on a unanimous vote approved a business investment grant intended to support a manufacturer planning to relocate headquarters and research-and-development operations to a 50,000-square-foot building just outside the town limits.

Trey Cash, who presented the agreement, said the company — referred to in county materials as JEDCO/Joco Manufacturing — must create 60 jobs over three years and invest at least $4,000,000 in capital in Greene County before the county begins making performance-based payments. Cash said the aggregate amount of the incentive over three years is $46,802.21 and that payments are limited to the taxes the company pays. "We will not pay them anymore than they pay in taxes," he said.

In a related action, commissioners approved a $175,000 building reuse grant from the North Carolina Department of Commerce that the county will administer as a pass-through award to the company. Cash said Greene County will monitor the company’s performance and request reimbursement from Commerce only after the firm meets the conditions set by the department. He added the county typically does not hold a deed of trust on these reuse grants and instead enforces performance conditions before payment.

Commissioners asked how the deed-of-trust question would be handled. Cash explained that rather than taking a lien the county enforces the performance-based terms: if the company fails to meet the job-creation or investment requirements, it would owe money back to the county and state.

The business investment grant and the building reuse grant were each moved, seconded and approved on unanimous voice votes.

The motions leave in place the county’s monitoring role; Cash noted Greene County currently has multiple active building reuse grants and said the county has been successful in the state program.