ROCKINGHAM — Two industries in Richmond County are planning to expand their operations, however their identities are being kept secret — for now.
Economic Developer Martie Butler told the Richmond County Board of Commissioners last week that she couldn’t yet disclose which companies are expanding because they are in the process of applying for state incentives.
“If the state of North Carolina grants a company money based on job growth, the governor will reserve the right to make the announcements,” she said.
Both Plastek and Perdue Foods announced expansions in 2016, with plans to hire a combined total of more than 50 additional workers. International Textile Group, which owns the Burlington plant in Cordova, also announced an expansion the previous year.
During their reports, both Butler and County Manager Bryan Land updated commissioners on the construction of the newest shell building, which will sit on 17 acres in the Rockingham West Industrial Park.
“Our shell building project is progressing rapidly,” Land said, adding that construction on the 40,000-square-foot facility was slated to begin mid-month.
Butler said a lot of work as been done, despite the rainy weather in recent months.
“Most projects — out-of-state projects, especially — are looking for a building,” she told commissioners. “There’s a lot of vacant land, but having a building puts some skin in the game and it allows us to actually be competitive.”
This will be the fifth shell building constructed by the county in the industrial park.
“The shell building program has been extremely successful,” Land said.
Over in the industrial park near Hamlet, RSI Home Products will be changing its name to reflect new ownership.
The cabinet maker, which went from making its announcement to constructing a facility and beginning operations in less than a year back in 2016, was acquired by Virginia-based American Woodmark about a year ago, Butler said.
“They still have plans for doubling the facility’s size,” she added. “No plans have changed, just the ownership.”
The site for the Enviva wood pellet plant, which was first announced in September 2014, “continues to take shape,” Land told commissioners.
Land said he visited the site on N.C. 177 the first week of January and was told by Enviva management that the site was “slated to peak at 325 employees” on the site this month, weather permitting.
Grading and paving on the site should begin around the end of February or beginning of March and more than 10,000 cubic yards of concrete have already been poured, he added.
Although the plant was originally scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017, Land said the new date is set for the second quarter of this year.
