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Caldwell County Economic Development honors local firms, touts $40M in investment and outlines 2026 projects
Summary
At an industry appreciation luncheon Ashley Bowling highlighted more than $40 million and 166 new jobs in 2025, presented awards to local firms and outlined 2026 initiatives including a potential $30 million EDA life‑sciences grant and a proposed $45 million rural care center.
Ashley Bowling, director of Caldwell County Economic Development, opened the county’s industry appreciation luncheon by thanking commissioners, naming advisory committee members and celebrating recent private investment. “We are celebrating an investment in our community for 2025 for over $40 million in new investment in our community and 166 new jobs,” Bowling said.
The program recognized multiple companies for recent investments and job creation. Awarded and announced companies included Bad Attitude Department (relocation and expansion), Brunswick Pharma LLC (98,000 sq. ft. facility reuse and 71 new jobs), Diamond Protector, Dinastar Aerospace Machining, Grant Falls Composits (management buyout preserving 100+ jobs), LSC Environmental Products and Wild Fork (JBS Wild), among others. Presenters described a mix of workforce commitments, facility investments, incentive packages and workforce‑training support.
Ashley Bowling also presented a Partner of the Year award to the North Carolina Railroad (NCRR). An NCRR representative described the organization’s economic development grants and local project support and noted over $74 million in statewide grants since 2017 that have helped create jobs and site readiness programs.
County officials and partners outlined several initiatives planned for 2026:
- Wage and benefit sector reports (participation deadline announced). - A Caldwell County talent strategy and a new plant managers networking group to support frontline manufacturing leaders. - A regional economic development collaboration (a 13‑county ‘Team Western North Carolina’ effort) supported by a $50,000 NCRR grant to promote advanced‑site readiness and life‑sciences growth. - An application to the federal Economic Development Administration (EDA) for a transformational grant targeting life‑sciences expansion; if selected, Bowling said the project could bring roughly $30 million to create wet‑lab and incubator space at the community college for scalable life‑science firms. - Preliminary planning and a proposed EDA‑funded sewer extension to make about 1,000 acres at Foothills Regional Airport marketable for industry; the county described the sewer distance to the nearest system as roughly five miles and said project costs would be significant without grant support.
Presenters urged local employers to participate in county surveys and outreach efforts and invited attendees to contact economic development staff to get involved. The event closed with anniversary recognitions, photo opportunities, and networking; no formal votes or regulatory actions were taken during the luncheon.
