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Newton City Council approves incentives, $200,000 grant support for RMC Advanced Technologies expansion
Summary
Newton City Council unanimously approved a package of incentives and grant agreements aimed at securing RMC Advanced Technologies’ acquisition and expansion of a Newton manufacturing facility, including a $200,000 Building Reuse grant and a two‑year 50% property tax grant tied to job creation.
Newton City Council on Jan. 19 unanimously approved a set of economic development agreements to support RMC Advanced Technologies’ planned acquisition and expansion of a manufacturing facility in Newton.
Nathan Huret of the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation told the council that RMC — a subsidiary of NanoXplore that manufactures graphene‑enhanced plastics — intends to retain 24 existing employees and create at least 49 new jobs tied to an initial investment of $6,850,000; a five‑year projection submitted by the company estimated up to 80 new jobs and roughly $7.5 million in investment.
The council approved four linked actions: (1) an Economic Development Agreement with RMC conditioned on at least $6.85 million in investment and creation of 49 jobs; (2) a Building Reuse Grant Agreement to enable access to $200,000 in North Carolina Building Reuse Program funds (the City’s portion includes a $10,000 match); (3) the Rural Economic Development Grant Agreement with the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Rural Infrastructure Authority; and (4) an administrative agreement with the Western Piedmont Council of Governments to administer the grant. Each motion passed unanimously.
As presented by Huret, the incentive package also includes a proposed 50% property tax grant for two years (estimated at $18,495 per year or $36,990 total) and a proposed 50/50 local match to apply for a Building Reuse grant. The Building Reuse program requires RMC to create a minimum of 35 new full‑time positions to receive the full $200,000 disbursement, with phased distributions tied to creation and six‑month retention benchmarks (first distribution after 12 jobs maintained six months, second after 24 jobs, third after all 35 jobs are maintained six months).
Council members who made and seconded the motions at the meeting were Council Member Jody Dixon (mover) and Council Member Ed Sain (seconder); all present voted to approve the agreements. Mayor Eddie Haupt presided over the meeting.
City staff and the EDC described the actions as necessary to keep the expansion in Newton rather than at a competing site. The agreements place job‑creation benchmarks and grant‑disbursement conditions on the company; the Building Reuse agreement as presented specifies the city will not secure the grant with a deed of trust and will provide a 5% grant match ($10,000).
