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Catawba County authorizes Future‑Ready Manufacturing Grant pilot, reallocates $200,000 for four projects
Summary
The Board authorized the Economic Development Corporation to run a pilot FRMG program for local manufacturers, increasing the pilot pool to $200,000 to support up to four projects aimed at adopting advanced operational technologies with a 1:1 match requirement.
The Catawba County Board of Commissioners on Aug. 18 authorized the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) to implement a Catawba Future‑Ready Manufacturing Grant (FRMG) pilot program and reallocated $200,000 in previously appropriated funds to support up to four pilot projects.
Economic Development Director Nathan Huret described the FRMG concept as targeted financial and technical support for private manufacturing businesses in Catawba County to adopt advanced operational technologies — including sensors, collaborative robots and analytics — that can expand productivity and address labor constraints. The program will exclude companies with active local or state economic development agreements, cap awards at $50,000 per company with a minimum 1:1 match, and require awardees to participate in peer sharing and case studies to capture lessons learned, Huret said.
Two manufacturers who participated in early industry visits proposed material‑handling projects that would add self‑driving robots to move parts on the production floor; both proposals described reassigning at least three workers into higher‑value production roles rather than reducing headcount. After board discussion about the pilot’s design and the role of state partners, Vice‑Chair Austin Allran moved to authorize EDC to implement the FRMG pilot and reallocate $200,000 (an increase of $100,000 above staff’s original recommendation) to support four pilots. The motion carried unanimously.
EDC staff said projects must submit evaluation results within one year of award and that, if successful, the EDC would pursue formalizing the program countywide by seeking municipal participation and developing a robust application and evaluation process.
