ROCKINGHAM- The Richmond County Board of Commissioners met Tuesday evening and heard from several county staff members including County Manager Bryan Land.
Land began his update on county happenings by reading the recent press release from last Friday concerning the $2.8 million purchase of the former NC Speedway by investors from Raleigh. According to Land, “This venue will help strengthen not only Richmond County but regional economies by generating opportunities for local businesses to expand and thrive.”
Land went on to say, “We’re anticipating a multi-million dollar impact to our local economy." According to Land this deal has been months in the making and he is continuing to work closely with the new owners as they make preparations for the future.
Board of Commissioners Chairman Kenneth Robinette recognized Land for his efforts in making the speedway deal a reality. Robinette said, “There was a lot of hard work behind the scenes. Hats off to Bryan; there was a lot of late night negotiations and a lot had to come together and I want to personally thank Bryan for his hard work.”
A new proposed shell building has generated a great deal of interest even though it’s a building concept only on paper at this time. Martie Butler, the economic developer for Richmond County noted, “This past month we had another site visit by a company that is looking at our proposed shell building; just the plans of having a building is generating traffic.” According to Butler, this was the company’s fourth visit. Butler, Land, the company president and their real estate agents met with RCC President Dale McInnis and a representative from NC Works for over three hours. “I’ve said for the past three to four years their (potential new companies) number one concern is workforce - will they be able to find the workers here in Richmond County and the surrounding areas to go to work,” Butler commented. The interested company has requested the contact information of local plant managers as they are doing surveys and talking with local people in the community, according to Butler. “We’re very encouraged that we’ve made it this far and we’d be really ecstatic to have a client for the building before it’s even built,” said Butler.
Butler updated the board on Direct Pack, located on Airport Road in Rockingham. “Their business has been going so well that they are going to have to construct a new facility. They are evaluating several options and it’s very encouraging to know a company that just moved here a couple years ago has already outgrown their 192,000 square foot facility,” Butler noted. Previously the board voted to approve a $400,000 Department of Commerce grant that could be used to expand on their current property. This money, according to Butler, can also be used by the company to help fund construction of a new facility should Direct Pack elect to go that route.
