Economic Development
Strategic Plan
By
May 2013
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Table of Contents
Background and Introduction
Page
3
County Economic Snapshot – Key Findings
Location
Population trends
Workforce description
Training opportunities
Existing business mix
Transportation access
Infrastructure
Environmental conditions
Local government support
Other leadership
Regional perspective
SWOT analysis
5
6
8
11
17
19
22
27
30
31
33
33
38
Existing Industry Program Review
41
Target Market Recommendations
Rationale for choosing targets
Recommended sectors
Marketing recommendations
47
48
50
62
County Asset Map
Available buildings analysis
Available sites analysis
Other site opportunities
Product development recommendations
67
68
73
81
91
Other Recommendations
94
Appendix
Available building analysis spreadsheet
Available site analysis spreadsheet
Potential site analysis spreadsheet
Competitive county site data package
2
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Background and Introduction
Rutherford County is blessed with an interesting central location, almost equidistant between
Charlotte, Asheville and the Greenville/Spartanburg area of SC. The County is along the edge of
the I-85 manufacturing and distribution corridor of the Southeastern US. Even as recent
national economic challenges have affected Rutherford County with numerous layoffs and
closings, the County has also experienced significant new investment from heavy industry that
requires significant infrastructure. And although manufacturing still holds a prominent place in
the economy, other sectors like tourism are also important.
The County wants to take advantage of economic development opportunities that arise as the
national and state economies emerge from recession. Consequently, it is critical to review and
update or reorganize the County’s approach to proactive recruitment as the economic climate
changes. As a result, Rutherford County Economic Development hired Greenfield to develop an
Economic Development Strategic Plan.
The overall purpose of the plan is to review the existing economy of the County and its assets,
and to create a Plan that leverages these assets towards the goal of higher wage jobs and an
expanded tax base for the future. The analysis in this Plan will highlight any stumbling blocks to
that goal; recommend projects that will strengthen the County’s position as a choice location
for focused growth; and provide strategies to improve the economic development process.
Greenfield is a full service economic development consulting firm for buyers, sellers and allies
in the business of business location and expansion. We help state, regional and local
development organizations recruit businesses, and we help businesses choose locations. We
are two principals, Mary P. Lilley and Robin H. Spinks, who have over 65 years of combined
experience in the areas of economic development, site selection, market analysis and overall
industrial project development.
We are a small firm committed to personalized, hands-on service, and we take pride in
recommendations that are unique and tailored to each location and situation. We also believe
that what we do is both science and art — a balance between rigorous data analysis and the
subjective nature of the decision process.
Greenfield’s process for this project incorporated three basic tasks:
1- Gather the information
2- Analyze the situation
3- Make recommendations
3
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Greenfield reviewed all information that might provide useful background knowledge for the
project, including studies, reports, data, initiatives, websites, marketing materials and local
assets. We interviewed numerous people who are stakeholders in the economic development
effort, including local, regional and statewide interested parties. We also spent many hours in
the County and in the economic development (ED) office with staff, reviewing the assets and
processes of the existing program.
It is important to note that NC Governor Pat McCrory has recently announced that the
economic development effort in NC will soon be totally reorganized. The details of this
restructuring will not be announced until after this study is released.
Greenfield’s
recommendations are based on the current structures in the State as of May 1, 2013. However,
no matter where these functions are located, or how they are structured or funded, the tasks
we are recommending will remain the same.
Our review of the information and recommendations for improvement are presented in this
report.
4
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
County Economic Snapshot
Key Findings
This County Economic Snapshot is a summary that describes who Rutherford County is in
relation to the many potential criteria that are important to companies looking for new
locations. These are also the same criteria that are important to retaining existing businesses.
Because different types of companies have different criteria based on their specific sector
needs, Greenfield reviewed a broad spectrum of issues.
The purpose of this review is to analyze the data and present our key findings and opinions on
how the County competes in these various criteria. We also used the results of this analysis to
choose industry sectors where the County’s strengths will provide an advantage in the site
search process and where its weaknesses will be less important and not eliminate the County
from the search list.
Greenfield reviewed information in the form of data, earlier studies and reports, maps,
initiatives, websites and marketing materials. We also spent time in the County looking at the
local assets to understand the physical issues, spatial relationships and development patterns.
We interviewed a number of people, both in person and over the phone, to gather information
and opinions and to understand attitudes. We talked to local stakeholders as well as regional
and statewide allies in the economic development network. We also engaged the economic
development network in SC. We addressed issues in the following general categories:
Location
Population trends
Workforce description
Existing business mix
Available product – buildings and sites (in a separate section)
Transportation access
Infrastructure
Environmental conditions
Local government support
Leadership
Regional perspective
A discussion of the issues in each of these categories follows. However, we have underlined the
key findings for emphasis and a visual summary.
5
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Location
Rutherford County is located almost equidistant between 3 MSA’s (census bureau Metropolitan
Statistical Areas) – Asheville and Charlotte, NC and Greenville, SC. It is even closer to metro
areas Spartanburg, SC, and Morganton/Hickory, NC - less than 30 miles from each. As a result,
the 30 and 50 mile radius labor draw populations are quite large (2010 census):
30 miles = 178,559 population, 82,840 labor force
50 miles = 676,772 population, 319,232 labor force
If the 50 mile radius population was an MSA, it would rank 78th out of 381 metro areas in the
US, between Stockton, CA and Charleston, SC. It would be larger than metro areas Colorado
Springs, Toledo, and Des Moines. The 30 mile radius population would rank 230th between
Redding, CA and Monroe, LA. However, because the County is not located in an MSA (central
city population over 50,000), it will not be included in a site search that is looking only at metro
areas. Therefore, it may not be included in a search for large employee projects like auto
assembly facilities. However, Rutherford County, along with Polk County, is part of the Forest
City Micropolitan Area (urban core population between 10,000 and 50,000). Although the
Micropolitan Area is named for the largest city in the urban core, the populations of its
contiguous towns (Spindale, Rutherfordton and Ruth) contribute to the numbers that define
6
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
the Area. Even with the smaller designation, the labor draw area is a very strong selling point
for any project that chooses to look in the area.
NC Micropolitan Areas as of January 2013
As a result of its proximity, Spartanburg is the city that benefits most from Rutherford County
leakage. Based on anecdotal information, Spartanburg is the place where Rutherford County
citizens shop for items they cannot find in the County. Many County residents work out of the
County – 6% in SC (most likely Spartanburg) and 18% in other counties in NC. And, many
executives of Rutherford County businesses live in Spartanburg and other surrounding
communities.
Rutherford County seems to have a split personality. In the western area of the County are
Lake Lure and Chimney Rock which are major NC tourist assets and second home locations that
bring people to the County from across the US. The central and southeastern parts of the
County are industrialized. These areas have a tradition of manufacturing, based on the
infrastructure of the Broad River tributaries and rail lines. And, the northeastern Golden Valley
section of the County is very rural in character with deep agricultural roots.
Even the towns in the central section are very different from each other. To outsiders, Ruth,
Rutherfordton, Spindale and Forest City appear to be one place, divided only by city limits signs.
Yet, they are very different in character. This split personality provides nice diversity and
residential options for in-migrants.
7
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Population Trends
The population of Rutherford County has grown steadily since 1990 at approximately the same
rate as the US, but slower than the State of NC. Generally, the County grew faster than the
towns from 1990 to 2000, but the towns grew faster from 2000 to 2010. (However, the growth
rates of towns are sometimes misleading, because they include annexations and consolidations
– i.e. growth in territory, not people.)
Bostic
Ruth
Henrietta
Cliffside
Caroleen
Ellenboro
Lake Lure/Chimney Rock
Rutherfordton
Spindale
Forest City
Rutherford County
NC
US
1990-2000
% growth
(11.6)%
(10.1)%
2000-2010
% growth
17.7%
33.7%
NA
NA
NA
NA
(6.8)%
48.6%
14.2%
(0.4)%
1.0%
10.4%
21.4%
13.2%
82.3%
27.1%
2.0%
7.4%
(1.0)%
7.8%
18.5%
9.7%
NA
US Census
NA
2010
population
386
440
461
611
652
873
1,305
4,213
4,321
7,476
67,810
9,535,483
308,745,538
Compared to its neighboring counties, Rutherford’s growth is average. The mountain counties
to the west have grown, and are projected to grow, much faster, as is the State. Counties to
the north and east are generally growing slower.
Cleveland
Burke
Cherokee, SC
McDowell
Rutherford
Polk
Spartanburg, SC
Buncombe
NC
Henderson
2010
population
98,078
90,912
55,342
44,996
67,810
20,510
286,307
238,318
9,535,483
106,740
US Census, NC OMB, SC Community Profiles
2000-2010
% growth
1.9%
2.0%
5.3%
6.8%
7.8%
11.9%
12.0%
15.5%
18.5%
19.7%
2010-2020
% growth
(projected)
1.2%
(0.2)%
11.6%
3.8%
7.3%
2.2%
9.1%
16.2%
11.3%
16.3%
8
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
The median age in Rutherford County is older than the US and NC and most of its surrounding
counties.
US - 37.3 years
NC - 37.7
Cherokee, SC - 37.8
Spartanburg, SC - 37.9
Cleveland - 40.3
Buncombe - 40.6
Burke - 41.0
McDowell - 41.5
Rutherford – 41.9
Henderson - 45.1
Polk - 48.9
The educational attainment of Rutherford County’s working age population, ages 25 or older,
reflects its manufacturing heritage and looks the most like Spartanburg County (SC). A large
number graduate from high school and receive some additional training, but do not complete
college. When compared to neighboring counties, the ones to the west with significant
retirement communities also have higher educational attainment. The counties to the north
and east have lower average educational attainment.
NC
Rutherford
Polk
Henderson
Buncombe
McDowell
Burke
Cleveland
Cherokee SC
Spartanburg SC
<9th
6.0
7.1
5.7
4.9
4.2
8.2
9.3
7.4
9.6
7.6
Less than HS
Total
<12th
<HS
9.9
15.9
12.7
19.8
7.0
12.7
7.8
12.7
7.9
12.1
13.0
21.2
14.8
24.1
13.1
20.5
15.6
25.2
12.1
19.6
HS grad
27.7
32.3
31.8
26.4
25.7
36.1
30.6
34.0
39.0
31.0
Some
college
21.4
23.0
20.8
24.0
21.5
18.4
19.8
19.8
17.1
19.5
High school or greater
Assoc
Bachelor
Graduate
degree
degree
degree
8.5
17.7
8.9
9.6
9.9
5.4
8.1
14.9
11.8
9.3
17.4
10.2
8.7
20.7
11.4
10.5
9.1
4.8
10.0
9.6
5.9
10.0
10.5
5.2
7.2
8.9
2.7
9.5
13.1
7.3
Bachelor
or higher
26.5
14.9
26.7
27.5
32.1
13.9
15.6
15.6
11.5
20.4
Total
> HS
84.1
80.2
87.3
87.3
87.9
78.8
75.9
79.5
74.8
80.4
US Census, 2007-2011 ACS (totals not exact due to rounding)
Rutherford County’s educational attainment has increased over the past 10+ years. The
increase has been the highest for people receiving associate degrees.
9
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Rutherford County’s 2012 average SAT scores were the lowest of the surrounding counties,
but they also had the highest percentage of students taking the test.
Rutherford
Cleveland
McDowell
Burke
Polk
Henderson
Buncombe
SAT score
1381
1424
1447
1470
1512
1530
1538
% students taking test
58.7%
54.5%
50.7%
49.8%
52.9%
55.6%
57.6%
Income levels are low in Rutherford County…..by any measure.
US
NC
Henderson
Buncombe
Polk
Cleveland
Burke
Rutherford
McDowell
Median family
$51,484
$44,942
$45,229
$42,794
$42,360
$38,522
$37,130
$36,391
$33,378
US Census, ACS 2009-2011
Mean family
$70,909
$61,567
$61,522
$57,754
$55,404
$49,960
$48,702
$46,243
$44,135
Per capita
$27,157
$24,459
$26,290
$25,074
$24,438
$19,800
$19,217
$18,852
$18,390
10
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Workforce Description
The labor force in Rutherford County has decreased over the past 10 years. Labor force
participation generally decreased with rising unemployment rates.
The County’s
unemployment rate is consistently higher than NC and the US, but has generally mirrored the
trend up and down. In February 2013, only 7 counties in NC had higher unemployment rates
than Rutherford County.
Labor force
Co% unempl
NC% unempl
US%unemploy
NC DES
2003
31,438
8.6
6.5
6.0
2004
30,139
9.1
5.5
5.5
2005
29,719
8.7
5.3
5.1
2006
29,925
7.7
4.8
4.6
2007
30,205
6.5
4.8
4.6
2008
29,742
8.2
6.3
5.8
2009
28,255
16.1
10.4
9.3
2010
27,356
16.7
10.8
9.6
2011
27,199
14.8
10.2
8.9
2012
27,660
13.3
9.5
8.1
4,199 layoffs and permanent job losses took effect in Rutherford County businesses between
2003 and 2012. Most were in manufacturing. (Because these numbers are calculated by the
manufacturing facility location, not all these employees lived in Rutherford County.) These
losses are described below.
Jobs lost as a result of facility closings in Rutherford County 2003-2012 (NC DES)
2003
TOTAL: 1710
Simeus Foods
Stonecutter
Cone Mills
Cone Mills Cliffside
Cone Mills Haynes
Broyhill
Watts Regulator
Timken Shiloh
Kmart
2004
TOTAL: 425
Parkdale
National Textile
275
65
260
115
250
506
119
30
90
100
106
11
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Manual Woodworkers 153
AGI Schutz
10
Timken
30
Big Lots
26
2005
TOTAL: 1,154
International Textile 430
Mastercraft
115
Cone Mills
200
Dan River
130
AGI Schutz
69
Broyhill
160
Winn-Dixie
50
2006
TOTAL: 105
Mako Marine
50
Southern Family
55
2007
TOTAL: 0
2008
TOTAL: 384
Continental
219
Watts Regulator
40
Mako Marine
125
2009
TOTAL: 187
All American Homes 97
Carpenter Design
47
Eaton
43
2010
TOTAL: 0
2011
TOTAL: 234
Watts Regulator 234
2012
TOTAL: 0
Significant new companies in the County over the last 5 years include:
• Facebook data center
• Horsehead zinc recycling and manufacturing – largest manufacturing project
announced in NC in 2011
• Valley Fine Foods (Pasta Prima)
12
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Registered to Work
unemployed
Jan 07
Jan 08
Jan 09
Jan 10
Jan 11
NC DES
2392
1980
4227
5287
4377
registered
to work
3856
3592
4836
5233
4496
0-6 months
experience
453
508
604
545
546
7-24 months
experience
676
696
944
913
798
+24 months
experience
2318
2033
2824
3138
2771
In January of 2012, more people were unemployed than were registered to work. The large
majority of people registered to work have more than 2 years of experience.
Higher unemployment rates are likely due to the county’s reliance on manufacturing jobs.
13
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Employment and Wages by Industry (2Q, 2012)
Rutherford Co
Avg Empl
NC
% Empl
Avg Wk
Wage
$593.00
0.4%
$436.30
0.7%
$542.24
*
0.1%
$866.85
% Emp
Avg Wk
Wage
$787.00
NAICS
Total All Industries
11
Agriculture
21
Mining
*
22
Utilities
177
1.0%
$1,454.40
0.3%
$1,363.86
23
Construction
592
3.2%
$595.43
4.4%
$803.48
31
Manufacturing
2,693
14.6%
$754.19
11.2%
$974.12
42
Wholesale Trade
345
1.9%
$749.96
4.4%
$1,145.36
44
Retail Trade
2,383
12.9%
$413.51
11.6%
$479.67
48
Transp and Whsing
577
3.1%
$490.04
3.2%
$820.47
51
Information
826
4.5%
$508.39
1.8%
$1,184.47
52
Finance and Insurance
351
1.9%
$742.07
3.8%
$1,289.31
53
Real Estate
122
0.7%
$508.43
1.2%
$750.33
54
Profess Tech Serv
759
4.1%
$1,095.91
5.0%
$1,272.91
55
Mgt of Comp
122
0.7%
$1,202.53
2.1%
$1,520.67
56
Adm, Waste Serv
572
3.1%
$577.66
6.7%
$573.40
61
Educ Serv
2170
11.8%
$581.23
9.5%
$758.86
62
Health Care, Soc Ass
3,179
17.2%
$616.62
14.4%
$808.95
71
Arts Enter Rec
175
0.9%
$305.43
1.7%
$540.80
72
Accom, Food Serv
1,642
8.9%
$261.38
9.2%
$289.05
81
Other Serv
312
1.7%
$530.86
2.5%
$545.32
Public Adm
1,344
7.3%
$585.61
6.1%
$823.08
92
67
NC DES
Only 10 years ago, in 2003, over 28.6% of the Rutherford County employed labor force were in
manufacturing as compared to 14.6% in 2012. During the same period, NC’s manufacturing
employment only decreased from 16.1% to 11.2%. Compared to the NC average, wages in the
County are lower in every single category except utilities. The categories of employment that
stand out in Rutherford County compared to the State are manufacturing, information and
health care.
14
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Employment and Wages for Manufacturing (2Q 2012)
Rutherford
NAICS
Employ
NC
Wages
Wages
2,693
67
$593.00
$782.68
$787.00
$650.40
31
311
all Mfg
Food
312
313
314
315
316
321
Bev & Tobacco Products
Textile Mills
Textile Product Mills
Apparel
Leather Allied Products
Wood Products
0
412
*
*
0
321
NA
$699.27
*
*
NA
$649.89
$1,104.61
$693.72
$616.50
$495.26
$528.67
$703.73
322
323
324
325
326
327
Paper
Printing & Support Activities
Petroleum & Coal Products
Chemical
Plastics & Rubber Products
Nonmetallic Mineral Products
*
38
0
62
281
28
*
$529.93
NA
$879.03
$754.25
$711.21
$1,061.86
$772.02
$1,094.60
$1,326.39
$862.29
$906.30
331
332
333
334
335
336
Primary Metals
Fab Metal Products
Machinery
Computer and Elec Products
Electrical Equip & Appl
Transportation Equip
*
733
156
*
*
*
*
$988.79
$586.12
*
*
*
$1,052.47
$850.03
$1,073.34
$1,912.79
$1,075.33
$1,092.96
337
339
Furniture
Miscellaneous
82
23
$592.05
$558.74
$652.61
$908.49
NC DES
The County’s primary existing industry employment is in textiles, wood products, plastics and
fabricated metals.
15
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Wages by Occupation
Occupations
All Production Occupations
First-Line Supervisors/Managers of
Production, operations
Team Assemblers
Cutting, Punching, and Press Machine
Setters, Oper
Grinding, Lapping, Polishing, and
Buffing Machine
Machinists
Molding, Coremaking, and Casting
Machine Setters
Multiple Machine Tool Setters,
Operators, and Tend
Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and
Brazers
Tool Grinders, Filers, and
Sharpeners
Printing Press Operators
Sewing Machine Operators
Cabinetmakers and Bench
Carpenters
Woodworking Machine Setters,
Operators, and Tenders
Mixing and Blending Machine Setters,
Operators,
Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers
& Weighers
Coating, Painting, and Spraying
Machine Setters,
Rutherford Co
Est Empl
Avg Hrly wage
NC
Avg Hrly Wage
2,740
$14.14
$15.14
140
$23.19
$25.28
*
$13.37
$13.76
80
$14.34
$13.47
70
$14.62
$14.74
40
$18.21
$18.12
90
$11.31
$13.89
30
$14.13
$21.23
40
$16.20
$17.45
20
$15.72
$16.69
80
$15.92
$16.39
100
$8.18
$11.34
*
$12.66
$14.47
*
$11.29
$12.41
*
$17.27
$15.94
160
$13.88
$15.47
*
$14.23
$14.49
NC DES 2012 annual
The production occupation categories above are the main skill areas that are present in the
County’s manufacturing workforce. They are representative of the largest industry sectors
described earlier – textiles, plastics, wood products and metal fabricating. Wages for these
occupations in Rutherford County are lower than the state averages in all categories except
three, including machinists.
The average time to travel to work by Rutherford County residents is 23 minutes. Based on a
resident labor force of 25,591 in the County (2006-2010 US Census ACS), 76% also work in the
16
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
County. Of the people who work outside of the county, the largest number work in Cleveland
County – 1,656 (6.5%).
Rutherford County Residents Workplace Locations
Rutherford
19471 (76%)
Contiguous counties
4870 (19%)
Cleveland
1,656
Spartanburg
780
McDowell
622
Polk
508
Henderson
449
Cherokee
364
Buncombe
321
Burke
170
Other NC counties
854 (3.3%)
Mecklenburg 219
Gaston
147
Other SC counties
203 (0.8%)
Greenville
81
Other states
186 (0.7%)
GA
63
Training Opportunities
Isothermal Community College serves both Rutherford and Polk counties with college
preparatory, vocational training, high school equivalency and other adult and continuing
education classes. They have fields of study that provide associate degrees, diplomas and
certificates.
Technical fields of study include:
Broadcasting
Building construction
Computer engineering
Electronics engineering
Industrial systems
Manufacturing technology
Mechanical engineering
Welding
Machining
17
Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
General business courses include:
Computer programing
Computer information technology
Entrepreneurship
Information systems security
Networking technologies
Web technologies
One unique program within the NC system taught at Isothermal is the Data Center Institute,
which prepares student to work in the data security field. A companion program for “mission
critical facilities” is also underway. Isothermal is the community college in the state system that
is developing this new curriculum.
The Community College has and is adapting to changing skill needs for the local existing
industry. Today’s manufacturers require more critical thinking skills and higher levels of basic
math and science to operate machinery, as opposed to the old craft and hand skills valued by
earlier manufacturers. The College has proactive relationships to develop new curriculum for
today’s skills and are in constant contact with many of the HR and plant managers, as well as
the K-12 education system leadership. They have also been active in developing customized
training for new and expanding industry.
The College has a Small Business Center which has been successful in supporting a number of
new business startups. The Center provides workshops, individual counseling and an
entrepreneurial curriculum.
The College is also working to develop a sustainable agriculture program. The program will also
include information on sustainability in many other areas besides agriculture.
Based on Greenfield’s discussions with local industry, Isothermal receives a good critique. The
College’s training programs are used by industry and its students are prepared for work when
they complete its programs.
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Existing Business Mix
The 25 Largest Employers in Rutherford County
Rank
Company Name
Industry
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
20
20
20
21
22
24
24
25
Rutherford County Schools
Rutherford Hospital
County Of Rutherford
Isothermal Community College
American Greetings Corp
The Shaw Group
Wal-Mart
A G Industries
The Timken Company
Heritage Healthcare
Ingles Markets
Professional Transportation
Watts Regulator Company
Town Of Forest City
Rumbling Bald Resort
Parker Hannifin Corp
Rutherford Management Corp
Willow Ridge Of NC
Diamondback Tactical
Duke Energy Carolinas
Allied Die Casting
Hospice Of Rutherford County
Parton Lumber Co
Reeves Bros (now Trelleborg)
Peoplease Corporation
Education and Health Services
Education and Health Services
Public Administration
Education and Health Services
Information (mfg display cases)
Construction
Trade, Transportation, and Utilities
Information (mfg display cases)
Manufacturing (aerospace bearings)
Education and Health Services
Trade, Transportation, and Utilities
Trade, Transportation, and Utilities
Manufacturing (distribute plumbing)
Public Administration
Leisure and Hospitality
Trade, Transp, Util (mfg hydraulic hoses)
Leisure and Hospitality
Education and Health Services
Manufacturing (body armor)
Trade, Transp, Utilities (power production)
Manufacturing (aluminum castings)
Education and Health Services
Manufacturing (pine lumber)
Manufacturing (coated textiles)
Trade, Transportation, and Utilities
Employment
Range
1,000+
500-999
500-999
250-499
250-499
250-499
250-499
250-499
100-249
100-249
100-249
100-249
100-249
100-249
100-249
100-249
100-249
100-249
100-249
100-249
100-249
100-249
100-249
100-249
100-249
NC DES via RutherfordNCEDC.com 2Q 2012
Of these largest employers, many of them are manufacturing or related production employers.
These employers, along with existing tourism assets, bring money to the County from outside
sources (primary jobs). The other large employers, such as healthcare, retail and government,
are service providers for the local marketplace.
Rutherford County ED maintains a comprehensive list of 71 existing industries in the County
that are a part of the existing industry visitation program. The employment data gathered from
these visits is more current than the employment figures in the chart above. According to the
more current data, 18 of these 71 companies have over 100 employees, 23 companies employ
between 25 and 100, 16 employ between 10 and 25 people and the remaining 14 employ less
than 10 people.
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Existing industry employment, over 100 (based on the Rutherford ED visitation program).
Some, but not all of these companies are included in the list above:
AGI In-Store – 266
Timken Shiloh Plant – 239
Watts Regulator – Carolinas Division – 225
Parker Hannifin – 170
Meritor – 162
Trelleborg – 156
Allied Die Casting – 155
Diamondback Tactical – 137
Sonoco Plastics BV – 135
Truck Service Inc. – 135
Eaton Corp – 132
Abercrombie Textiles II LLC – 127
Milliken & Co – 125
APAC Atlantic – 120
Parton Lumber – 120
Tanner Companies – 108
Wilbert Services – 101
Horsehead Corp – projected employment over 100
Pasta Prima – projected employment over 100
With its location in the NC mountains and foothills, Rutherford County has important tourism
assets that are both a generator of jobs in that sector and a major component of the local
quality of life. Although Lake Lure and Chimney Rock are the most well-known areas for
tourism, other parts of the County have tourism assets as well. A picture of Chimney Rock is
one of NC’s most iconic brands, evidenced by its prominent placement on the front of the 2008
NC State Transportation Map (available at every tourist destination in the State).
The Rutherford County TDA has recently completed a major strategic planning process that
focuses on 6 areas: asset development, marketing, public relations, customer relations, visitor
information network (digital mapping) and internet presence. These efforts to bring people to
Rutherford County and make their experience enjoyable coordinate and support the industrial
recruitment effort of the ED Office.
The Town of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock Village are also in the process of a marketing and
branding campaign to help promote that section of the County. This additional publicity will
significantly raise the overall awareness of the County’s assets, and continue to support the
overall economic development efforts of the County. Major destinations in that area include:
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Rumbling Bald Resort
Chimney Rock and State Park
Lake Lure
Hickory Nut Gorge
Historic Lake Lure Town Center
Numerous campgrounds
Tons of outdoor activities
Tourist destinations in other areas of the County include:
Historic downtown Rutherfordton
The Firehouse Inn
Forest City retail center
Bostic Lincoln Center
Overmountain Victory Trail
Thermal Belt Rail Trail
Foundation Performing Arts Center
Bennett Classics Antique Autos
Rutherford County Farm Museum
Forest City Owls Baseball
Broad River Gem Mine Museum
Ellenboro Train Depot Museum
Numerous festivals
Anchored by Rutherford Regional Medical Center, Rutherford Regional Health System (RRHS)
offers excellent health care services to area citizens. The Medical Center has 143 beds and a
staff of over 700. More than 130 physicians work in 23 specialties that include general family
and pediatric practices, behavior health, cancer care, general and orthopedic surgeries, wound
care / hyperbarics, urology and others. Indications from leadership are that RRHS will continue
to add services as the demand increases. In fact, RRHS has recently signed a Memorandum of
Understanding with Mission Health Systems, Inc. that will provide additional treatment
opportunities and a wider range of services to the general population.
According to local industry, RRHS is prepared for and experienced with industrial injuries. They
have specialist in industrial injuries on staff. These specialists are helpful with recordable
incidents and promote the healing that allows an employee to return to work quickly.
Although agriculture has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Rutherford
County, farming is no longer the major economic driver of the County. The NC Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services recorded 705 farms in the County totaling approximately
65,900 acres (or 18% of all land within the County). The average farm size is 93 acres, with less
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
than 25% of farmland used for field crops. The County does have over 235,000 acres of
timberland, most of which is in private ownership.
Major agricultural commodities raised in the County include broiler, layer, and cattle
production. Cash receipts for agriculture (2011) totaled in excess of $22.2 million, with
livestock, dairy and poultry yielding over $18.56 million of that total. Row crops raised include
hay and wheat. Other crops grown in the County include vegetables, fruits, nuts and berries, as
well as nursery, greenhouse, and floriculture Christmas trees. There are some growers of herbs
for local culinary and aromatics markets within the County. Farmers markets and tailgate
markets offer local growers an opportunity to sell to the local market, and the Polk County Ag
Store sells produce locally on consignment. Also, the Town of Spindale plays host to the annual
Spindale Dairy Goat Festival and is home to a national goat registry (American Dairy Goat
Association).
Locally grown crops can lead to larger business. The Blue Ridge Foods Venture facility in
Asheville offers small producers access to a shared-use kitchen / incubator for new product
development and production. Several groups within Rutherford County have utilized the Food
Ventures facility and are selling local jams and jellies into the regional market. Valley Fine
Foods (Pasta Prima) located in the County in 2012. This maker of pasta products might be a
catalyst for introduction of additional agricultural products if there is a need by the
manufacturer for locally grown fresh ingredients. Rutherford County’s Blue Ridge Distilling Co,
which makes single-malt whiskey (sold under the name Defiant) is beginning to develop local
sources for its barley inputs and wood for aging. The Rutherford County Agricultural Extension
office works to identify new market sectors for local growers.
Transportation Access
Rutherford County does not have an interstate highway within the County. The closest
interstate is I-26. It is less than 20 miles to the west of Rutherford County along US 74 from the
interchange at US 221. This interstate is currently used for Rutherford County industrial traffic
headed to Asheville where it connects to I-40 and the Midwest. I-26 connects I-40 and I-85 but
other connections to I-40 and I-85 from Rutherford County are closer.
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
The next closest interstate is I-40. It is less than 20 miles from downtown Rutherfordton along
two-lane US 221 to Marion in McDowell County. The widening of US 221 to multiple lanes is in
the NCDOT long range plans for construction in 2030. Along US 64, it is approximately 30 miles
to I-40 near Morganton in Burke County.
The next closest interstate is I-85. It is 23 miles from US 74, south along US 221 to I-85, and 14
miles from the County/State line to I-85. The connection to I-85 is only slightly longer than the
connection to I-40, but the I-85 connection is a four lane, divided highway most of the route.
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
This route is also a more important route for industrial traffic, as it is the main artery through
the Southeast US connecting to I-95 and all major markets along the East Coast. I-40 is an
east/west artery running through the middle of the US to the West Coast. This artery is an
important route for industrial traffic going to automotive assembly facilities in the Michigan to
Alabama corridor.
Although US 74 across the entire County and US 221 going south from US 74 are both
interstate quality, they do not carry the interstate designation.
US 74 is particularly important because it is the highway to the Port of Wilmington. This
highway is interstate quality most of the route to the Port with major exceptions around Shelby
and Monroe. A new Monroe Bypass is the top transportation priority of the NC Ports Authority.
Although US 221 is four lanes from US 74 south to the county line, it consolidates to two lanes
through Chesnee, SC. US 221 is the connector highway to I-85 and then I-26, from Rutherford
County to the Port of Charleston, SC which is closer than Wilmington.
Unfortunately, most industrial projects want to be a maximum of 10-15 miles from an
interstate, and Rutherford County cannot check that box on a consultant questionnaire. For
example, Area Development Magazine’s 2012 Survey of Corporate Executives ranked highway
access as the number 1 most important criteria for a facility location.
CSX rail lines through the County provide a critical link to the Port of Wilmington, as well as to
East Coast and Midwest US markets. This infrastructure is particularly important since there is
no interstate highway in the County. CSX also provides service to the other nearby East coast
ports of Charleston, Savannah and Norfolk.
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
The County is also served by the Thermal Belt shortline railroad. Thermal Belt provides service
from Bostic west through the older industrial areas of Forest City and Spindale where it serves
many of the County’s existing industries and available buildings. From Spindale at Oakland Rd
through Rutherfordton and north to Gilkey the tracks were covered over and turned into a rail
trail. Thermal Belt also has a line that formerly provided service to a now-demolished
Schneider Mill site in Alexander Mills.
Cone Mills formerly owned and operated a line from Ellenboro to Cliffside, but these tracks are
gone and the right-of-way is no longer protected. The former Peavine line north to Marion and
south to Alexander Mills is also abandoned. These abandoned lines provide a very limited
opportunity to re-create service for site options for very large projects.
Rutherford County Airport - Marchman Field (FQD) is one of a few gateway airports where
travelers stop for gas before they cross the mountains. The 57 Alpha Cafe at the field makes it
a particularly inviting stop for through traffic. The Saturday BBQ and bluegrass events are wellknown to weekend flyers. The airport has a long (5000’) runway for a general aviation airport.
At the low elevation of 1057 feet, it has the ability to serve all general aviation airplanes and all
but the largest corporate jets. Consequently, it is a valuable asset for business and especially
tourist traffic. Researching the plane tail numbers that use this airport is a good way to identify
business owners who already have an affinity for the area – second home owners or tourists at
Lake Lure or Chimney Rock.
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
For commercial flights, Rutherford County has good choices. Forest City is almost equidistant
to three different airports.
47 miles – (GSP) Greenville-Spartanburg
51 miles – (AVL) Asheville
59 miles – (CLT) Charlotte
Asheville is the smallest of these airports, with service from Delta, US Air and United.
Greenville-Spartanburg has additional service from Allegiant, American Eagle and Southwest.
Charlotte is the 6th busiest airport in the world and 2nd largest on the US East Coast. It is served
by seven US and three foreign carriers providing 130 non-stop destinations all over the world.
The Charlotte Douglas International Airport’s proximity (one hour, 5 minutes, from Forest City
according to Google maps) is a significant asset to recruit foreign companies or tourists. Island
dwellers particularly like to vacation in the mountains. Non-stop foreign destinations out of
this airport include:
17 Caribbean cities
5 Mexican cities
Costa Rico – San Jose and Liberia
Dublin, Ireland
Germany – Frankfurt and Munich
Canada – Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal
London, England
Madrid, Spain
Paris, France
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Rome, Italy
Within just over an hour drive, a traveler from Rutherford County has many flight choices for
schedule, ticket price, parking proximity/cost and hassle factor. However, for corporate
travelers, the hour+ drive is restricting for frequent trips/regular commutes.
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Rutherford County is a long way from a deep sea port. However, the CSX rail line directly
connects the County to all of these ports except Morehead City. Highway miles from Forest
City to the following ports are as follows:
236 miles to Charleston, SC via US 221 to I-85 to I-26
269 miles to Wilmington, NC via US 74
278 miles to Savannah, GA via US 221 to I-26 to I-96
376 miles to Morehead City, NC via US 74 to I-85 to I-40 to US 70
393 miles to Norfolk, VA via US 74 to I-85 to US 58
Infrastructure
Electrical capacity is the most significant infrastructure asset that exists in Rutherford County.
Duke Energy has recently completed the expansion and modernization of its coal-fired Cliffside
Station located in the southeastern corner of the County. The new unit generates 825MW of
power which can support over 660,000 average sized homes. The total capacity at the facility is
1,387MW. In addition to generating capacity, significant transmission lines traverse the county
and move power from this and other generating assets into and through the County. A 500kV,
230kV and multiple 100kV lines are located in the County, as well as several 44kV lines. This
infrastructure provides some of the best electrical capability in the entire State and is an
extremely valuable asset for large power consuming industries.
Duke Energy provides retail electric service to the majority of the County’s territory. However,
the towns of Bostic and Forest City also provide retail electric service within their Town limits.
Rutherford EMC provides retail electric service in the western and far northern parts of the
County.
Duke’s electric rates are also very competitive. Duke’s average price for industrial customers in
2011 was 5.34 cents per kWh, compared to the national average of 6.82. Duke’s average price
for all customers was 7.53 cents per kWh, compared to the national average of 9.9. NC’s
average price for all customers in January 2013 was 8.9 cents per kWh, compared to SC – 8.99,
GA – 8.93, VA-8.72.
Fiber optic cable is also a significant infrastructure asset. Broadband providers in the County
who can sell/lease dark fiber capability include DukeNet, AT&T, MCNC, Level 3 and Pangaea. In
addition, RST in Shelby and Broadflex in Morganton are within construction distance for an
appropriate project. Several of these companies have significant cross-country network
connections to the internet hubs in Marietta (Atlanta), GA and Ashburn, VA (Washington, DC).
This list of local fiber resources can provide the multiple routes between the internet hubs that
data centers require. Also, local provider Pangaea serves all the major County corridors with
significant fiber for most business uses. Charter Cable and AT&T also provide residential
service.
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
Natural gas service is provided by PSNC Energy, a subsidiary of SCANA Corporation. PSNC
provides natural gas in its NC territory that extends from Asheville through Rutherford and
Gaston counties to Chapel Hill and Raleigh. SCANA is headquartered in Cayce, SC and has nine
subsidiary companies that provide electricity, natural gas and other energy products, as well as
a 500 mile fiber optic network.
Most of the areas within Rutherford County that are suitable for large-scale industrial
development have adjacent gas lines or are within 3 miles of the large main lines. Existing and
potential sites could be served if the project was a substantial gas user. Gas lines do not extend
beyond Rutherfordton into the western and northern parts of the County.
The County is served by several water and sewer service providers. Consequently, determining
the correct provider in a particular location can be confusing – sometimes even a different
provider on different sides of the same road. However, the capabilities and service are good in
the major transportation corridors where potential industrial sites are, or should be located.
Most importantly, the multiple water systems in the County are all interconnected with each
other and with providers in neighboring counties. The operators of these systems work well
together to provide back up for each other’s systems. These interconnections provide the
opportunity for larger projects to take advantage of the combined capacities. The Broad River,
with its significant flow, is a valuable asset both as the source of water and recipient of
wastewater discharge.
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Rutherford County, NC
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The Town of Forest City serves both water and sewer in its corporate limits and generally the
area of the County that is south of US 74 Business and east of Chase High Rd. Forest City also
sells water at wholesale to the towns of Bostic, Concord and Ellenboro. Forest City’s water
treatment capacity is 8 mgd (expandable to 10mgd) and its average daily usage is
approximately 1.8 mgd. A significant amount of excess capacity is available for new industrial
facilities.
The Town of Forest City also provides sewer service within its corporate limits and generally in
the same county corridor described above. The Town’s primary treatment facility is designed
to treat 7mgd at peak and current flow is approximately 3mgd. In addition, the Town owns two
stand-alone treating plants near the Broad River - one developed by a textile facility that is no
longer operating and one that serves Riverstone Industrial Park.
The Broad River Water Authority (BRWA) provides water service to the towns of Spindale and
Rutherfordton, as well as in the southern parts of the County along Poors Ford Road, US 221,
and Harris-Henrietta Road to the Cliffside/Avondale/Caroleen area. BRWA treatment capacity
is 8mgd and their average daily usage is approximately 5mgd.
Broad River Water Authority Territory
The Town of Spindale has its own sewer system serving within the town limits and south into
the County near the US74/221 intersection and down Poors Ford Road. Spindale has a
significant amount of excess wastewater treating capacity - permitted for 8mgd and averaging
only 1mgd.
The Town of Rutherfordton also has its own sewer system with a treatment capacity of 3mgd
and average daily usage of less than 1mgd. In addition to service within the town limits, the
Town serves the industrial area north of Town near Broyhill Road and southwest of Town, north
of Thunder Road and south along Coxe Road to Polk County.
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
The Town of Ellenboro purchases its water from Forest City and sends its sewer back to them
for treatment, so its capacities are included in the information provided above. More
importantly, the Town has water distribution and sewer collection lines to areas east of Town
along US74A and the CSX railroad, and south of Town down to US 74 Bypass along several
routes. These lines could serve potential rail-served industrial sites.
Lake Lure also has its own small water and sewer systems which are adequate to serve small
new commercial or office sites. The Town has a dam and hydroelectric generation whose
output is sold to Duke Energy.
Environmental Conditions
Rutherford County is attainment for all criteria pollutants. This is especially important for large
process industries that might need to obtain air permits for various emissions. Since Duke
Energy has a coal-fired power plant in the County, significant data is available for air permit
application studies.
The physical layout of the County changes from east to west and north to south. The northern
and western parts of the County have more severe topography. These more severe slopes limit
the suitability for large industrial sites due to higher costs for site development and
infrastructure expansion.
The Broad River is the most prominent feature of the southern part of the County. Because of
the river and its tributaries, there are a number of 100 year flood zone areas that are in the
County, particularly in the southern section near the primary electrical infrastructure. With
challenging topography throughout most of the County, rail generally follows the river valleys,
making rail-served sites difficult to develop away from these valleys.
The Broad River anchors a watershed that has enough flow to accommodate various sizes of
intake and discharge. In the County, two public water systems treat 8 mgd each from the
system, and the Cliffside power plant averages 19.4 mgd of water usage from the river. Several
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
public wastewater systems discharge into the Broad River system, as well as several private
industrial systems. The wastewater plant built to serve the Dan River Harris finishing plant is
currently inactive, but might be returned to service for an appropriate industrial user.
Local Government Support
In the past, Rutherford County has provided significant support for new industrial projects.
Consequently, the County has a reputation with NC Commerce as a consistent deal closer. All
indications are that this support will continue. In this past year, the ED organization added a
staff person to write grants and provide research support. The County has also allocated
money for this strategic plan and other initiatives, providing the community with recruitment
tools necessary to actively compete for major projects.
In addition to County support, each of the Towns has contributed its financial support and
willingness to extend infrastructure for new and expanding businesses. They also support
quality of life initiatives, such as the baseball park and downtown development programs that
reflect a pride in community.
We understand that the County and the towns have each provided incentive funds for certain
economic development projects in the past. But, we also understand that no formal public
policy exists for this important part of the ED recruitment effort. Greenfield recommends that
a formal policy be established, and our detailed recommendations and explanations are
included in the Recommendations section of this report.
Taxes in Rutherford County are slightly higher than the rates in most neighboring counties, but
reasonable compared to other NC counties that were revalued in the same year (2012). In the
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
past, rates were often lower in the first years of the 7-year revaluation cycle because the
valuations were increased. However, due to the lower valuation of real estate in the past 3-5
years, the rates in counties with more recent valuations, like Rutherford, may be higher. As the
real estate market slowly recovers, valuations over the next few years will likely return to
earlier trends.
Tax Rates – Cents per $100 of Valuation
Rutherford County
Forest City
Lake Lure
Ruth
Rutherfordton
Spindale
$0.607
$0.29 *
$0.246
$0.28
$0.537
$0.683
(*Forest City also receives revenue from its electric distribution system)
Rates in other NC counties revalued in 2012
Cherokee
$0.52
Madison
$0.52
New Hanover
$0.554
Montgomery
$0.57
Surry
$0.582
Rutherford
$0.607
Pamlico
$0.625
Pitt
$0.68
Cabarrus
$0.7
Bertie
$0.78
Guilford
$0.7804
Franklin
$0.8725
Rates in neighboring counties and year of revaluation
Henderson
$0.5136
2011
Polk
$0.52
2009
Buncombe
$0.525
2006
Burke
$0.525
2007
McDowell
$0.55
2011
Rutherford
$0.607
2012
Cleveland
$0.72
2008
The lack of a county-wide zoning ordinance has both advantages and disadvantages. The
advantage of this missing element for industry is that no public hearings are required to “allow”
a use on a chosen site. However, in order to protect itself from incompatible adjacent uses, any
new facility should obtain additional acreage to provide its own buffer - which adds to the cost
of ownership. Another disadvantage of no zoning is that the County cannot zone and therefore
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
protect an area for industrial uses in the future and keep incompatible uses from locating there
in the meantime.
Other Leadership
The most important ingredient to economic development success is leadership. With good
public and private leadership, communities will develop the other assets that are required.
Good leaders have a vision and then cultivate the talent and resources that are needed to
achieve that vision. Rutherford County appears, from the outside, to be blessed with many
people (in addition to dedicated local elected officials) who can and have served in positions of
leadership -- not only locally, but also at higher levels. Evidence and examples of this leadership
include:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Funding for the Foundation Performing Arts Center and Frank and Mabel West
Auditorium at Isothermal Community College
A famous public radio station (WNCW, 88.7) that was an early promoter of local
bluegrass and alternative music that is now very popular nationwide
Walter Dalton – former Lieutenant Governor and candidate for Governor, recently
appointed President of Isothermal CC President
Sharon Decker – current NC Secretary of Commerce
Stonecutter Foundation – financial supporter of many local causes. Protected their
assets after the mills were no longer viable in order to continue to support local
causes – invest the money at home where it was made
Rutherford Outdoor Coalition – important since the County has no official Parks and
Recreation Department
Andrew and Flora Major art gallery
Robert McNair and Owls baseball stadium
The economic development effort can engage these and other local leaders, tapping their
financial resources, time and contacts to help recruit new business to the County.
Regional Perspective
Rutherford County is a part of the AdvantageWest Economic Development Group which
includes 23 mountain counties in Western NC – a very large geography with a relatively small
population of 1.2 million people.
However, because the County is on the far eastern and southern edge of this region, and
because of its textile and manufacturing heritage, the County has as much affinity to the
Charlotte Regional Partnership to its east and southeast, and the Upstate SC Alliance to the
south. All three of these economic development groups have nearby existing assets and
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
marketing efforts that can benefit Rutherford County. Charlotte and the Upstate are both allies
and competitors and the relationship should be “coopetition.” Businesses are less interested in
political boundaries and more in proximity and beneficial connections.
Upstate SC Alliance
Charlotte Regional Partnership
AdvantageWest is Rutherford County’s official economic development regional partner. The
County contributes funds to the Region and as a result, the Rutherford ED office can participate
in the Region’s marketing efforts. The county economic development professionals from the
region meet quarterly to provide input and receive updates on the region’s marketing and
program efforts.
The region’s marketing efforts are primarily directed to site consultants and corporate real
estate executives in the region’s target business sectors. The local developers are invited to go
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
on company visits, with the region helping to pay travel expenses. The region does not spend
marketing funds on tradeshows or print advertising, although they do attend certain
conferences.
The AdvantageWest target business sectors are:
o Entrepreneur Development – This initiative focuses primarily on education, mentoring,
networking, communications and capital formation (Blue Ridge Angel Investors
Network). AdvantageWest also developed the Certified Entrepreneurial Community
program, which is a process that prepares communities to foster small business
formation and growth.
•
•
•
•
•
assuring that the community is committed to the process
assessing the community's current entrepreneurial landscape
creating a comprehensive strategy for entrepreneurial growth
marshaling the community's entrepreneurial resources
identifying and nurturing the community's most promising entrepreneurial
talents
o Film Development – The Region coordinates information on the region’s possible film
locations, and works with the NC Film Office to recruit projects.
o Food Ventures – This effort revolves around the Asheville shared kitchen and natural
products manufacturing facility. The region also recruits larger manufacturing projects
in the agricultural sector. They have been most successful recently in landing several
large breweries.
o Advanced Manufacturing – Although this is a broad category, the region’s efforts are
focused primarily on metalworking, plastics and other advanced materials. They recruit
companies that use these materials in the aerospace, IT (data centers), automotive and
biopharma sectors.
o Tourism Development – The NC mountain landscape is a prime tourist destination for
people from all over the US and the world. There are so many extremely valuable assets
in the region, including Rutherford County’s Lake Lure and Chimney Rock (one of the
most photographed of all NC’s tourist assets). AdvantageWest is the regional
organization that promotes tourism in the NC mountains, along with the NC Commerce
Tourism Division.
o Advantage Green – AdvantageWest promotes and recruits companies in the clean,
renewable and sustainable energy sector, including power providers and manufacturers
of the equipment.
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Rutherford County, NC
Economic Development Strategic Plan
When a project is considering SC, just as it is in NC, the project must also have a competitive
location option in another state to be eligible for state incentives. Consequently, most of the
projects that consider the Greenville/Spartanburg area of SC also consider sites nearby in NC,
especially in Rutherford, Cleveland and Gaston counties. Therefore, Rutherford County is often
the recipient of project visits by target industry companies that are recruited by the Upstate SC
Alliance. Because of the proximity to the Upstate economic development assets, these same
assets can also be claimed by Rutherford County. Companies such as the BMW auto assembly
facility, Michelin Tires, American Titanium, and resources like the Clemson Advanced Materials
Center and ICAR (International Center for Automotive Research) in Greenville are all available
to companies that locate in Rutherford County.
The Upstate SC Alliance consists of the 10 counties in the northwestern corner of SC from GA to
Cherokee County, SC all along the NC border and south to Greenwood County. The largest
cities include Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson, all along I-85 between Charlotte and
Atlanta. The Combined Statistical Area of Greenville/Spartanburg/Anderson alone has over 1.3
million people.
The Upstate SC Alliance target business sectors are:
o Advanced materials – including plastics, optics/photonics, advanced textiles,
metalworking.
o Bioscience – including biomaterials and medical devices
o Automotive – based on Michelin Tires and the supplier base to BMW
o Energy – including traditional and renewable power generation, component
manufacturers and energy systems solutions (15,000 engineers in the region)
o Aerospace – including aviation, numerous component manufacturers in the region,
synergies with advanced materials and automotive. The Alliance is actively recruiting
suppliers to the Boeing assembly facility in Charleston.
The Charlotte Regional Partnership (Charlotte USA) consists of 12 counties in NC, including
Rutherford’s neighbor Cleveland County, and the 4 counties in SC, just to the east of the
Upstate SC Alliance. The population of the region is over 2.6 million people. The region is
world headquarters to nine of the Fortune 500 companies and home to the world’s sixth
busiest international airport.
Charlotte USA’s target business sectors are:
o Film – the area has been used to film a large number of feature films including Days of
Thunder, The Patriot, The Hunger Games and The Color Purple. The region has 4 major
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equipment houses and crew assets to qualify as a “Production Center” according to
industry standards.
o Health – including life sciences and medical device companies. The NC Research Campus
is becoming a world class research hub for nutrition and disease research.
o Defense – more than 1000 DOD contractors and 100 aerospace firms are currently
located in the Charlotte region.
o Aerospace – firms in the region include Goodrich, Curtiss-Wright Flight Systems, General
Dynamics, Michelin Aircraft Tire, and Turbomeca.
o Energy – Charlotte is the headquarters of Duke Energy, the largest electric utility in the
US. In addition, more than 260 other companies in the sector are located in the region,
ranging from solar panel manufacturing to nuclear engineering to renewable energy
R&D.
o Finance - Charlotte is the nation’s second largest banking center with over 67,000
financial services employees, and headquarters to Bank of America.
o Motorsports – home of the NASCAR Hall of Fame and 90% of all NASCAR race teams.
The region is a close network of race teams, suppliers, educational facilities, R&D and
race tracks focused on NASCAR racing.
o International business – more than 950 internationally owned companies in the region
and 11 honorary foreign consuls. Foreign Trade Zone #57 and 16 subzones in the region.
o Tourism – Charlotte USA is the regional organization that promotes tourism in the
region along with its local TDA’s and the NC Commerce Tourism Division.
The business development team for the region hosts, visits and responds to site selection
advisors and corporate decision makers throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia.
The Partnership also spreads the word by working with national and international reporters on
stories that position the region as a premier business destination. Articles have appeared in
publications as diverse as The Wall Street Journal, Time, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and
Boston Globe.
Note: As mentioned previously , NC’s Governor McCrory has announced that the NC Department of
Commerce and the 7 regional partnerships will be reorganized and funded under a different structure.
Subsequently, there may be changes to the regions as described above.
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SWOT
Based on the information and opinions provided in this Economic Snapshot, the following is a
summary of Greenfield’s analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the County and its assets
as they relate to the broad site search criteria for industrial and large company location
projects. The highlighted subjects represent the most important issues - strengths to market or
weaknesses to improve.
Strengths
Location
Population/labor draw area is significant
Workforce
Manufacturing heritage/culture
Employee work ethic
High unemployment rates supply workers for new projects
Lower than NC average wages
Workers are willing to update skills – high percentage of “some college”
Isothermal CC Data Center Institute and Mission Critical Facilities program
Existing business
High percent of workforce in manufacturing
Existing clusters – plastics, metals, wood products, textiles
Significant tourism assets, especially Chimney Rock, Lake Lure
Product
Riverstone shell building
Transportation
Proximity to the CLT international airport
3 choices for commercial airports
Local GA airport has long runway, low elevation, “famous” restaurant
Rail availability
Infrastructure
Electrical capability and cost
Fiber availability
Spindale and Forest City sewer capacity
Environmental conditions
Air attainment for all criteria pollutants
Broad River capacity for additional intake and discharge
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Local government support
Reputation for aggressive deal closing
Leadership
Private leadership potential – funding, time, industry contacts
Regional perspective
Synergies with three adjacent regions
Likely to see most projects from SC targets
Weaknesses
Location
Not included in one of the surrounding MSA’s – even though the population is
similar, the County will not be included in MSA-defined searches
Workforce
Low SAT scores
Older skill sets
Product
Lack of functionally useful buildings
Many buildings that are good for only storage or need demolition (infrastructure
to the site is more valuable if the building is gone)
Lack of rail-served sites
Lack of certified sites
Transportation
>1 hour distance to commercial airports
No interstate
No interstate quality connection s to I-85
Distance to a water port
Environmental conditions
Severe topography adds to the cost of site development
Flood areas along the rivers are near electrical and rail infrastructure
Opportunities
24% of residents work outside the county – opportunity to bring them back
Proximity to 3 different regional ED organizations provides triple help in marketing
efforts
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More coordination between all the economic development organizations will help each
other – Rutherford ED, TDA, Chambers, community/downtown development
Low worker wages/household incomes can be improved by recruiting advanced
manufacturing
Location and infrastructure assets are significant – need buildings and sites to sell to
take advantage of the strengths
Private funding and leadership opportunities to enhance the ED effort have never been
tapped
Outdoor and other tourism assets are a big draw to younger workers – need to lower
the County’s median age
Threats
Loss/lack of funding for US74 and US221 improvements outside of Rutherford County
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Existing Industry Program Review
Existing industries have incredible impact on local employment and overall economic vitality of
a region. According to many published sources and Greenfield’s own years of experience,
approximately 50% of all new manufacturing employment and investment comes from
expansion of existing industry. Consequently, Rutherford County is correct to focus significant
resources on providing a program for increased interaction with, support of, and advocacy for
the County's existing industrial community.
According to information reflected in the Economic Snapshot, the County still has a significant
manufacturing workforce and many employers, compared to the rest of NC and the US.
Although the traditional textile industry is nowhere near its historical highs, its legacy of work
ethic, hands-on skills, and industrial process attitude remains as the basic asset that new, high
technology companies still seek. Certainly computer skills have replaced manual dexterity, but
critical thinking skills about how to perform a task are still important and should be fostered
and encouraged in the businesses that are the local economy.
Communication is the key ingredient for a successful existing industry program. The ED staff
must initiate this effort in order to build trust and show the value of what they can coordinate,
with other local resources, to support and advocate for existing industry. Once the bond is
created, the companies will feel comfortable in coming to the ED office with issues before they
become critical. Early detection of issues is the best way to foster good ideas that can change
trends and keep them from becoming problems.
Program Underway
Rutherford County currently has in place an Existing Industry program. A Project Administrator
is assigned to implement this task. The ED Office has identified 71 businesses representing
many sectors and has grouped them into four categories by size: large companies (100+
employees), medium companies (26 - 99 employees), small companies (10 - 25 employees)
and micro companies (1 - 9 employees). Over 25 of these companies have corporate
headquarter locations outside of NC. The Project Administrator is tasked to set up an initial
meeting with each company. This meeting includes questions such as:
o How is your company doing, and is there growth potential in your future?
o What can we do to assist you with growth to make sure any expansion locates in
Rutherford County?
o What are the challenges your company / industry face nationally and in the state?
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o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Is working with local (town and county) government easy? Are there any road blocks?
Are there any local / regional / state concerns you might have?
Are there any raw materials we might help you source locally?
Are you in contact with the Community College about training on a regular basis?
What issues do we need to understand about the preparation (basic education / work
ethic) of your potential workforce?
Is there any research we might provide to you that might be beneficial?
What trade shows do you attend and do you have a booth?
Do you want internal / external publicity?
May we contact your regional / HQ location to thank them for this operation in our
County?
Other questions that arise
The program goal is to visit each company at least once a year, and to set up a schedule for
regular contact into the future. Other ED staff are also involved - making visits, providing
follow-up on issues and answering questions as requested. The Project Administrator can use
the information from the County’s Economic Snapshot to ask more specific questions about
strengths to market and weaknesses to address.
Recommendations for Additional Program Components
Greenfield proposes that the ED Office add some, if not all, of the following effective and
affordable suggestions to the established Existing Industry Program. We also suggest that the
ED Office adopt the following as the mantra of the program:
Treat Every Existing Industry Like a New Client.
In other words, whatever you would do for a new client you are trying to attract to Rutherford
County, you should be doing (and more) for an existing business.
1) Put all existing industries into the County's ACT database and keep it updated.
As of now, the ED Office uses ACT as its primary client following database. We like ACT and use
it exclusively for all of our client following activities. We applaud the ED's use of it and suggest
they continue to expand their proficiency. However, every existing industry should be in the
database grouped in at least two ways: by size category as defined above and by their NAICS
code (product). As the company interviews continue, other groups can be added as you learn
more about the companies’ raw materials, labor needs, customer base, etc.
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Having a record of the past activities with each company is useful for several reasons. It may
show trends that will allow the ED staff to anticipate a need. It gives other office staff a record
of past activities to seamlessly support the company when the Project Administrator is
unavailable. It provides quick reports for boards and managers to see what is being
accomplished and what needs are still unmet. The reports also provide an overview for
planning and budgeting to implement requested help.
2) Communicate often.
Visiting with the companies is a great way to initiate the program, but the ED Office needs to be
more connected to them than just a visit once or twice a year, or seeing them at a local civic
function. Sending emails about relevant issues (for example, news of a small business seminar
in the region to the Small and Micro companies or a Military trade show to any military
contractors) is a good way to stay in touch and provide the companies with valuable
information at the same time. Other topics of interest might be pending state legislation that
could impact certain types of transport, news from NC DENR about changes to permit
processes, new facilities at the ports, etc. Again, the more the ED staff meets with the
companies, the better they can anticipate the appropriate information to funnel to each
company. If made aware of issues in a timely fashion, many of these companies can impact the
issue by using their own industry contacts or lobbyists to call for more information or to help
with additional communication / research if needed.
3) Follow up quickly.
The purpose of an Existing Industry program is to proactively uncover issues or questions and
respond to them quickly, before they become critical. It is imperative that the ED Board and
staff place equal importance upon the requests from existing industries as is placed on those
from perspective clients. In other words, get back to them as soon as the question is answered
or the issue resolved. If it is taking longer than expected, let them know it is still in the works.
4) The Existing Industry Program is everyone's job.
It is easy to place the responsibility of this program squarely on the Project Administrator and
the ED staff, but the most effective existing industry program involves elected officials, county
and town managers and ED Board members. Most often, company managers only see mayors
and county commissioners when there is a problem, a request for a donation, or at a Rotary
Club meeting. The Project Administrator should occasionally ask an elected official to
accompany them on a company visit. It does not take much time, and it goes a long way to
establishing a line of communication and showing that, indeed, everyone in the County is
interested in the well-being of the company and its employees.
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5) Provide an annual Legislative Update after the Legislature leaves Raleigh, focusing
only on industrial issues.
Taking advantage of the annual Legislative exodus from Raleigh is an excellent opportunity to
bring all industrial leaders together to hear about the changes in laws that will directly affect
them. Breakfasts are usually a good time to do this - before the plant managers become
immersed in their day. Breakfast is also usually a shorter meeting and more cost effective. And
with a year such as this one, any substantive update will be appreciated. Do not forget to
include a federal Congressional update as well.
6) Take a plant manager to lunch.
This too, is a cost effective way to establish rapport. We suggest targeting one plant manager a
week. Everyone has to eat lunch. An informal setting, away from the office, is often a better
time to discuss more difficult issues that might need attention. This type of setting also allows
the time for just brainstorming ideas for new programs or efforts.
7) Assist with publicity, if they want it.
Not every company wants publicity. But, there are those who do want to be recognized locally
for their contributions. For those that do, become a paparazzi. When they are at ED or county
events, take pictures of their representatives and submit them to local papers. Cut out these
photos and display them in the ED office.
8) Wear out the Post Office.
The best tool for an existing industry program is a stamped envelope. Cut out good news
articles in local newspapers about companies, especially those with pictures, and send them to
the local company and their regional / corporate office with a short note. This shows that the
ED Office recognizes their local involvement and contribution. Write personal thank-you notes
after every visit. Yes, an email can also work. However, a personal note is something they
remember much longer.
9) Think about what your companies produce before you purchase something.
If possible, purchase products made by your local companies. It really does matter, even if they
say it does not.
10) Pass proclamations, send cards, etc. when it's their "day, week or month."
Every type of business, whether large or small, has a designated "day" or "month" for it.
October is National Pork Month. November 15th was National Recyclers Day in 2012 and
should be for 2013. And, the US celebrates National Manufacturing Week in May. The ED
Office can coordinate with the County to pass proclamations supporting the pertinent "days."
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Submit photographs of the signing of the proclamation to the press, and then send a copy out
to each company as described above.
11) Keep companies informed before something happens and keep them in the loop after
something happens.
As this program matures, the ED staff will spend a great deal of time providing information on
possible legislative actions, DOT / road changes, upcoming events, and other relevant items. It
is equally as important for the staff to continue to monitor the situation(s) and continue to
communicate in a timely fashion as each situation evolves.
It is also important to keep existing companies informed about the recruiting efforts for new
companies. In general, which sectors are being recruited, which trade shows are being worked,
what resources are being planned to support those sectors; and within the limits of
confidentiality, specific prospects that are in the due diligence stage.
Most importantly, serious prospects always want to interview existing industry to uncover the
anecdotal information about labor quality and work ethic as well as general community support
“after the sale.” The ED staff needs to know how existing companies will respond to these
prospect inquiries. It is also possible that a local plant manager might have a mutual contact
that can help in the recruitment process. A successful existing industry program will afford you
a trust level and specific knowledge about connections to be able to access this type of help for
closing projects.
12) When working a trade show, investigate if any local companies have a presence at the
show or want assistance with prospecting to specific target companies who might also be
attending.
Through the interviews, the Project Administrator will be chronicling which companies attend
which trade shows and if they have booths at these shows. This information will assist the ED
staff in determining/prioritizing which trade shows to attend. Also, it will provide another
opportunity for ED staff and NC Commerce regional / state staff to stop by a booth and meet
representatives of the company to offer thanks and continued support for the Rutherford
County facility.
13) Visit regional or corporate headquarters as funds and schedules allow.
It is helpful to arrange for local representatives to visit regional or corporate offices where they
can meet executive management. Use this opportunity to express local support and thanks for
the company’s contribution, both direct and indirect, to the economy of Rutherford County.
These visits leave a positive impression on corporate decision makers that control the wellbeing and future of the facility in the County. Hopefully, the first time locals show up at a
corporate office will not be when they are begging to keep a facility open that has being
evaluated for closure or when asking for a major donation.
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We suggest the County begins this process by visiting NC-based companies first. Staying closer
to home will provide a less expensive way to see if, indeed, these visits are something you wish
to continue.
14) Be there when something goes right; be there if something goes wrong.
No one wants to think that something might go wrong at a place of business in the County.
Unfortunately, things happen. There can be a fire, tornado, theft or other unforeseen event.
If you are willing to be there for the praise, you need to be willing to be there for the tough
times as well. Yes, the Red Cross will be there after a fire or flood to provide coffee and
sandwiches, but local leadership can show up to help serve. ED staff can help find short term
freezer space at other companies if that is what is needed, or simply be there to offer comfort
and stand beside the company's leadership. The company will remember this as much or more
than they remember anything else done for them. This is a memory that runs deep. If the
company has to consider the economic viability of whether to downsize or expand the local
plant, this assistance and support can well be the trump card that wins the day for Rutherford
County.
15) Coordinate with the NC Commerce Regional office existing industry representative, as
well as other professionals working to support local industries.
Bill Payne is the representative with the Western Regional Office of the NC Department of
Commerce who calls on existing industry in Rutherford County. The project Administrator
should keep in touch with him on a regular basis to coordinate his visits to the County. He
should be aware of the Project Administrator’s overall program efforts and schedule of calls. It
might be useful for them to make a few visits together each year. And the Project
Administrator should always know when he is visiting companies in Rutherford County. He is
also a good source of information for any follow up that might be required on State issues.
The project Administrator should also regularly contact NC Division of Employment Security,
Isothermal, and Workforce Development staff who also work closely with the industries.
Coordinating efforts will keep everyone working on their defined tasks -- and not "tripping" all
over each other or duplicating efforts. The Project Administrator may also wish to join the local
HR managers organization for the additional access it can provide to company personnel and
local issues.
None of these suggestions are very expensive, but they do take time. However, this time is a
reasonable investment with a high rate of return. All of these suggestions provide an
opportunity for better communication between the ED Office, county officials, and corporate
leadership to work together to provide a stronger economic future for all the residents of
Rutherford County.
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Target Market Recommendations
Rutherford County’s current target business sectors are: data centers, call and contact centers
and renewable energy manufacturing. Greenfield reviewed these and other sectors in
relationship to the County’s assets, strengths and weaknesses as presented in the Economic
Snapshot. We also considered the vitality and growth prospects of each of the sectors. Based
on our review and analysis Greenfield recommends the following target business sectors for the
County:
Automotive suppliers
Data centers
Call / contact / customer service centers
Advanced materials
Creative class small business
Film recruitment
Lifecare communities
In addition to these sectors, the County has assets and strengths that can be used for the
agriculture sector that will not be significant, but can add to the diversification and growth of
the economy.
Greenfield recommends that these target sectors and their corresponding assets be reviewed
at least every five years. As in the example with the renewable sector below, conditions and
markets can change quickly. The County should adapt as quickly as possible, and embrace
change as an opportunity to leap ahead of the competition with development possibilities.
Greenfield has determined that the renewable energy manufacturing sector should not
continue on the target list. We believe that sector is currently over-supplied, and will not
rebound as long as the cost for traditional energy sources remains low.
The renewable sector was largely driven over the past 5-10 years by legislative mandates in NC
and many other states, as well as by federal tax credits and programs. NC’s Renewable Energy
Portfolio Standard (REPS) requires all state electric service providers to supply a certain
percentage of their retail sales with renewable energy sources, and a portion of that generation
must be located in NC. Many other states in the US also have similar renewable mandates.
NC’s REPS was the first in the Southeast and one of the first in the country.
During the same timeframe, traditional energy costs for natural gas, coal and crude oil were
also at near all-time highs. These higher traditional energy costs allowed renewables to
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compete favorably to supply the needs of the retail market and leveraged a flurry of equipment
manufacturing for its generation.
The market is different today. All of the NC electric providers have filled their REPS
requirements through at least 2017, and the cost for that supply is just now being added into
the retail rate base. These requested cost increases are not being received favorably by the
consuming public or the Utilities Commission. Legislation was recently proposed in NC to scale
back the REPS requirements, although it did not pass.
Additionally, traditional energy costs are lower as a result of several factors that have increased
supply. New hydraulic fracturing technology has released a huge new affordable supply of
domestic natural gas. The war in Iraq has officially ended and eased fears of crude oil shortages
from the Middle East. New pipelines from Canada are ready for construction, and the Gulf oil
platforms have recovered from the BP disaster. In addition, federal energy credits for
renewables have become controversial and are at risk in this difficult budget season. All these
and other factors have alleviated the upward pressure on energy prices which means that
higher costs for most renewables (there are always exceptions) can no longer compete on a
cost basis.
Companies quickly put manufacturing to support renewable energy generation in place to
supply the exploding market. DOE supported the building of these facilities with funds from the
Economic Stimulus budget. Those funds are no longer available, and several of the renewable
equipment manufacturers have gone into bankruptcy under much public scrutiny (example Solyndra, A123). Several solar manufacturing companies in the US have accused the Chinese of
dumping panels and related equipment onto the US market, leading to a federal trade
investigation. Even the world’s largest panel manufacturer, Chinese producer Suntech, recently
announced bankruptcy.
Rationale for choosing targets
Although the County’s overall strengths and weaknesses are summarized in a SWOT at the end
of the Economic Scan section of this report, not all of those assets are criteria that will affect
the initial search geography of a project. Many issues will be analyzed during a search, but only
a few criteria will be used to actually put a location on the initial search list of options.
Approximately half of Greenfield’s projects are for corporate clients. We have used our
knowledge of site search criteria and process to choose targets where Rutherford County’s
assets and strengths will put them in the general search geography, and where the weaknesses
will not eliminate the County during initial investigation. The particular strengths we believe
will cause the County to be included in the search geography are as follows:
Electrical capacity and service connection opportunities – Large process industries often start
their search in areas that have the lowest electric rates. Then they narrow the search areas by
overlaying the other infrastructure requirements like transmission connections, sewer
capability or rail service.
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Air attainment status – Most heavy process projects need to generate heat or steam for their
manufacturing processes resulting in the need for air permits. These projects use nonattainment as an elimination factor early in the site search. Finding attainment areas in close
proximity to a labor pool large enough to support these often very large employment projects is
difficult.
Extensive fiber – Data centers look for general geographies between the Atlanta and
Washington, DC network hubs for the internet. These areas are then overlaid with the electric
transmission infrastructure to find the intersections which have the most reliability (service
from multiple generating sources).
Water/sewer capability – Certain industry sectors like paper mills, food processors or textile
dyeing need significant water and/or wastewater treatment capabilities. Communities with the
available excess in city systems or along large rivers with discharge capability are targeted for
these site searches. Rutherford County has both. However, the County is limited with
availability in any one community system. If the systems were more officially connected or
coordinated, the size of the potential projects could be much larger.
Proximity to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport – Many foreign companies choose their
search geography within an hour from an airport with flights to their home country.
Population/labor force size – The less-than-one-hour-commute labor draw area is large enough
to keep the County in the search for large employment projects after the County has initially
been chosen for its infrastructure assets.
The following are weaknesses which might eliminate the County early in a search, or keep it
from ever making the initial search list. Greenfield used this list to eliminate certain high
growth sectors, like food processors or distributors, from target consideration.
No interstate highway – Almost all distribution projects and many manufacturers require a site
that is less than 10 miles from an interstate and/or with an interstate quality connecting road.
Rutherford County has neither. Therefore, Greenfield has focused its targets on sectors that
use rail as the primary transportation mode and suppliers to nearby large assemblers whose
short distance outweighs the lack of interstate. Some small regional distributors might consider
the County because they can service multiple metro areas that are within an hour’s drive
radius. However, we do not consider that market large enough to make it a proactive
recruitment target.
Few high ceiling, good condition available buildings – Since there are so few high demand
buildings available, we have chosen some of our targets in sectors that generally look for
greenfield sites and not always buildings.
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Since the County does have a number of available buildings with low ceilings, we have included
the call center/customer service center target that can renovate these buildings for compatible
uses.
Greenfield also considered the County’s manufacturing heritage as an advantage, but not a
unique strength. However, in choosing targets, we purposefully have chosen some targets that
have higher wages than the traditional county manufacturers. The goal is to build on
manufacturing tradition but raise local incomes with higher wage sector jobs. We also hope
that these new higher wage sectors will provide incentive for school age children to see the
long term benefit of STEM education and further training.
We have also chosen some sectors for both the higher educated and less skilled members of
the labor force. The creative class small business sector will attract the more educated and
entrepreneurial workforce who are free to live where they want to play. We also acknowledge,
with the customer service center target, part of the existing workforce that has lower skill levels
and a long history of team assembly.
Automotive suppliers
According to the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the automotive industry has seen positive
growth in the last 3 years since its financial bailout. Several months have seen growth as high
as 25% from the previous year. Several companies in this industry have seen record growth
during this period of time, including nearby BMW. In 2012, BMW had a record year for sales
volume, revenue and earnings. The company forecasts additional growth for 2013.
The BMW manufacturing facility between Greenville and Spartanburg, SC is only 40 miles from
Forest City, and the Riverstone shell building is approximately 6 miles closer. The lack of an
interstate in the County is not an issue with this sector because of this close proximity.
This facility makes six different BMW models and has seen six significant expansions of the
facility in the 20 years it has been in SC. Other automotive facilities nearby include Daimler
Buses in Greensboro, Daimler Trucks in 5 locations including Gastonia, Mack Truck
headquarters in Greensboro, Thomas Built Buses in High Point, and Volvo Truck in Greensboro.
NC has a substantial cluster in this sector with over 160 companies, 17,000 workers and 23% of
the top 150 OEM suppliers. Several of these suppliers are already located in Rutherford County
and include Meritor, Timken and Wilbert Plastics.
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In addition to proximity, Rutherford County has the following assets that are important to
automotive project site criteria:
Riverstone building – most automotive suppliers generally search for existing buildings. These
projects are usually in a hurry because they have recently won a large contract from the
assembly facility and need to deliver product as soon as possible. And, many times they are relocating a facility from somewhere else and need to keep downtime to a minimum between the
shutdown and startup.
Low operating costs – Electricity and labor are two of the most important operating costs for an
automotive supplier, and both are below national and state averages in Rutherford County.
Local tax rates are also very reasonable.
Experienced labor pool – Products made of plastics and metal are the primary inputs for
transportation equipment. Rutherford County has clusters of experienced workers in both of
these sectors, as well as training opportunities at Isothermal CC.
The automotive sector is a target sector for the State of NC, the Upstate SC Alliance, Duke
Energy and ElectriCities of NC. Marketing efforts by all of these economic development
organizations will benefit potential project flow into Rutherford County. In particular, projects
that want to be near BMW will also need a possible NC location to be eligible for SC incentives.
Rutherford County should be able to compete and win some of these projects.
As a result of the BMW facility in Upstate SC, many assets have been developed to support that
facility and the many suppliers that have located nearby. One such asset is Clemson
University’s International Center for Automotive Research (ICAR) in Greenville. This program
and facility is a catalyst for global automotive engineering and includes research in seven
strategic areas – advanced powertrain, vehicular electronics, manufacturing materials, vehicleto-vehicle infrastructure, vehicle performance, human factors and systems integration. In
addition to BMW, industry partners include Michelin, Toyota, Ford, Timken, Bosh, GM, Chrysler,
GE and many other suppliers.
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Data Centers
The information revolution is just beginning. Corporate America is digitizing information to
save and share with employees and stakeholders around the world. Individuals and small
companies also have platforms for cloud computing. Mobile devices have increased the
demand for more and more applications. Recent governmental regulations require corporate
accounting record storage. Consequently, data storage and retrieval is, and will be, a growth
industry for the foreseeable future.
The siting of data centers is completely infrastructure related. They require redundant, 100%
reliable electricity and similar fiber optic bandwidth to receive and send data. Unfortunately,
finding specific documentation of the physical location of these two types of infrastructure is
hard to find in the public domain. As a result of terrorist threats after 9/11, service lines for
electricity and (less so for) fiber are not easily available on GIS systems. Only experienced
personnel in these industries are completely knowledgeable about the actual locations and
capabilities of the required lines.
Greenfield collected information on electric lines from pre-9/11 sources and general
information from some fiber providers. Based on what we know, Rutherford County has
extremely valuable confluence of infrastructure for this industry. Rutherford County is not
unique with these assets, but is one of a handful of possible locations in the Atlanta to
Washington, DC corridor between internet hubs.
Electrical capability and cost – Duke Energy has multiple transmission lines in Rutherford
County connecting several sources of generation, plus the recently upgraded Cliffside power
plant providing nearby generation. Duke Energy also has a rate structure that is much lower
than the national average and very competitive with nearby systems.
Fiber capability – The County hosts 5 broadband providers that can offer dark fiber for
sale/lease. At least two additional companies are nearby and available for an appropriate
project.
Property tax costs – It is not unusual for a large data center to invest over $1 billion in a single
project location. Consequently, property tax rates are an important location variable in a place
that has the right infrastructure. Rutherford County’s property tax rates, while higher, are not
significantly different than nearby counties with the same infrastructure. And, their property
tax costs are generally lower than SC and VA locations.
Training – Isothermal Community College has developed the curriculum for a Data Center
Institute that trains workers for the extremely high technology jobs required to maintain and
operate a data center. This program is being developed by Isothermal in Rutherford County but
can be replicated across the State. Isothermal is also developing a companion program for
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Mission Critical Facilities that focuses on building support systems and can be utilized in many
different industries where reliability is critical.
Weather risk – Because of the extreme low tolerance for electricity interruption, weather risk is
a factor for data center locations. Consequently, data centers are not generally found in
hurricane-prone areas, anywhere near flood zones or in areas which experience significant icing
or tornadoes.
Rutherford County is located in the Isothermal Belt in NC where temperature inversions result
in milder temperatures than nearby and surrounding areas. The phenomenon usually occurs
on the southern slopes of mountains and foothills protected from frost and freezing
temperatures by higher mountains to the north and northwest.
Location criteria also take into consideration tornado risk. According to Dr. Greg Forbes of the
Weather Channel, the Charlotte metro area has only a moderate risk of tornado activity
compared to other metro areas from Washington DC to Atlanta.
Washington
Charlotte
Raleigh
Atlanta
Birmingham
Tornadoes
9
22
38
74
85
Since
1814
1950
1950
1950
1950
Worst
F3
F3
F3
F3
F5(2), F4 (3)
Other risks – Because of the extreme sensitivity of the electrical equipment, data centers will
also not locate close to a rail line or gas line.
Data centers are a target sector for Duke Energy. Marketing efforts and unique infrastructure
knowledge by Duke will generate projects for Rutherford County. The NC Rural Broadband
Initiative and the MCNC can also provide marketing assistance and information support for data
center recruitment.
Existing industries in the sector include Facebook and the NC Data Center in the County, as well
as Google, Apple and 11 others elsewhere in NC.
Because Rutherford County is approximately an hour from the nearest commercial airport, the
County is more likely to attract stand-alone data center projects like Facebook. It is less likely
to attract co-location projects such as those developed by T5 and KI Mission Critical for multiple
customers who need to travel to the site regularly.
Data centers provide a huge tax base without requiring many typical municipal services. On the
one hand, they do not generate a large number of jobs per project. However, the jobs they do
create are in occupations that carry a wage that is significantly higher than current average
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wages in Rutherford County. These jobs will definitely help to raise household income in the
County.
Call / Contact / Customer Service Centers
Greenfield defines this sector as a facility that has a large number of people on the
phone/internet who take inquiries (inbound customer service) or make inquiries (outbound
telemarketing), and other face-to-the-customer operations. The facility may be a direct sales
tool, may include a technical service component or a combination of both. It may also include a
fulfillment component that receives goods back from the customer and repairs and/or
repackages products. According to the National Association of Call Centers, there are 66,000
call centers in the US today employing over 3.5 million people, and growing.
For a time in the past, US companies outsourced this function to other countries. However,
customer outcry over difficulties understanding foreign English accents and the increasing costs
of labor overseas have brought many of these facilities back to the US. The biggest competition
for this type of facility today is not India, but at-home agents working through cloud-based
computer systems.
Call centers require the same fiber infrastructure as data centers, but have more employees at
lower wages. Call centers locating in Forest City and Bostic can benefit from the local
management and maintenance of these two towns' locally owned and operated electrical
systems -- and potential on-site backup generation, The only weakness that Rutherford County
has for this sector is its distance from air freight carriers for the repair/repackaging function.
Two available buildings in the County, the Rutherford Square and Food Lion buildings are good
buildings with adequate parking for call facilities. Other manufacturing buildings might also
work for technical call centers that also have repair or repackaging functions. The Tri-City
Molds building is small, has only 10’ ceilings and is near a major highway. Once used for
apparel manufacturing, the ParMay building has 16‘ceilings and could be renovated for bench
work. The Wilbert Plastics building has 7,000 sq ft of office space and 14’-20’ ceilings. It might
serve as a possible call and repair facility. The Spindale Partners building with its wood floors
and 16’ ceilings could be renovated into an architecturally interesting office space and
repair/repackaging shop. It is also located in the center of town for a better labor draw area
with employee services nearby.
Because call centers are best located in more densely populated areas of town, ElectriCities can
provide good marketing support for these types of projects.
Advanced Materials
This target sector covers a broad group of producers which make raw materials and parts for a
number of industry sectors including, energy, aerospace, biomaterials, medical devices and
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automotive. The County’s infrastructure is particularly useful for large heavy process projects
in these sectors such as (shown with the NAICS code):
sanitary paper products (322291)
chemical production of
 synthetic dyes (32513)
 other basic inorganic chemicals (32518)
 synthetic fibers (32522)
 adhesives ( 32552)
metals including
 steel products (3312)
 aluminum sheet and plate (331315)
 aluminum rolling, extruding (331318)
 other non-ferrous metals rolling, drawing, extruding, alloying (33149)
 foundries (3315)
 fabricated metals (332)
industrial machinery (3332)
metalworking machinery (3335)
general purpose machinery (3339)
glass (3272)
abrasives (3279)
carbon fiber (335991)
plastics products
 packaging (32611)
 pipe (32612)
 foam ( 32614)
 bottles (32616)
 plumbing fixtures (326191)
For many years the larger projects in this sector have located in foreign countries with cheaper
power and labor. However, as labor and energy costs in developing countries like China, India
and Brazil have escalated and energy costs in the US have dropped, the US is now priced
competitively with these former locations when transportation costs are taken into account. In
addition, these and other developing countries are beginning to use all the materials they can
produce for projects in their own countries. This increasing demand for product has also
created price escalation which lowers the risk for decisions on new projects. In the past year,
these prices have been volatile. As the economy slowly recovers, they are expected to remain
high. The price indexes below show metals trends as an example.
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The aerospace sector, in particular, is a major consumer of advanced materials and is
experiencing solid growth. According to Barry Eccelston, CEO Airbus N.A., Airbus has 8 years of
firm backlog orders. According to the Aerospace Industries Association every subsector of the
industry has over 100% industrial capacity utilization.
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Some of the super alloys shown above include nickel (iconel), aluminum and cadmium alloys.
Other developments such as new technologies for forming and machining these materials are
prompting their growth. These technologies include laser-beam, friction-stir and linear frame
welding as well as additive manufacturing (metal deposited layer by layer to build up complex
shapes, like 3-D printing for composites).
Rutherford County has the following assets that are important to the project site selection
criteria for advanced materials:
Electrical capability and cost – As mentioned previously, Duke Energy has multiple transmission
lines in Rutherford County connecting several sources of generation, plus the recently upgraded
Cliffside power plant providing nearby generation. Duke Energy also has a rate structure that is
lower than the national average and very competitive with nearby systems. Many of these
projects use a very large amount of electricity and will often begin a project’s search geography
based on territories with the lowest electric rates.
Air attainment status – Most heavy process projects need to generate heat or steam for their
manufacturing processes. They burn a fuel to generate that heat, which requires an air permit.
The costs related to an air permit in an attainment area are lower and the permit is easier to
obtain than if the project is located in a non-attainment area. Often these projects will target
attainment areas near population centers as the initial search geography.
Process water intake and/or discharge – Large process manufacturers in this sector often need
water for cooling and sometimes as an input to the process itself. In either case, the volumes
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are often too large or have waste streams too difficult to send to a municipal system. In these
cases, a river which has enough flow to accept the discharge or allow an intake will be a
defining factor in the search geography.
Some projects using water and with smaller process discharge may choose to use city systems.
Rutherford County’s several systems have wastewater treatment capabilities large enough to
handle a moderately sized project. The Broad River is available if the municipal systems are not
capable.
Rail served sites are generally a requirement – Raw materials and/or finished products are often
shipped by rail for advanced materials projects. Mainline railroad CSX and shortline Thermal
Belt both provide service within the County. However, the County lacks good existing sites with
rail frontage. Rail sites are particularly important since the County does not have interstate
access for the shipment of goods. Rail also provides important connections to nearby seaports
for imports of raw materials or product export.
Many of the largest foreign companies in this sector are bringing facilities to the US. The
Charlotte Douglas International Airport and its connections to large foreign airport hubs is a
significant asset for this target sector and these foreign companies.
All three ED regions and Duke Energy have targeted various parts of this business sector.
Consequently, Rutherford County should see many potential projects as a result of the
marketing efforts of all three regions. AdvantageWest targets include advanced materials,
specifically plastics and metalworking. The Charlotte region targets include the sectors which
use advanced materials such as aerospace, defense contractors and energy. The Upstate SC
Alliance targets include advanced materials, focusing on plastics, metalworking,
optics/photonics and advanced textiles as well as the end use sectors of automotive
equipment, energy, aerospace, biomaterials and medical devices. Duke’s targets include
primary metals, chemicals and automotive equipment.
Rutherford County has existing clusters in the metals and plastics sector of advanced materials.
Existing industries in the sector include Horsehead, Diamond Tactical and Trelleborg.
This sector is particularly important for Rutherford County because it is more rail oriented and
less dependent on interstates for transportation. Projects in this sector are typically quite large
and so tend to locate in areas away from existing development. Consequently, the lack of
County zoning is not as issue. The projects have enough impact on surrounding land that the
company will buy sites large enough to provide their own buffer from incompatible users that
might encroach in the future.
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Creative Class Small Businesses
This target sector is defined more by occupations than by the industry sector. It consists of
people who perform services or job functions that are not dependent on being in the corporate
office. These tele-commuters can work from home or in small remote offices. The internet and
cloud computing has opened a new world for independent work. This freedom to work
anywhere allows people to live where they love to play. Individuals in the creative class are
generally entrepreneurs who have carved out a niche business that they can perform without
significant nearby support services or local marketplace. They are consultants, artists, sales
persons, telemarketers, technical support agents and the like. Mary and Robin of Greenfield
are examples of this sector.
The creative class economy person is drawn to move to locations where they love to vacation,
like Lake Lure. They are drawn to Rutherford County by its significant tourist assets, physical
beauty (mountains, trails, rivers, lakes) and relatively milder climate. Rutherford County’s
diversity of geography also helps when the startup company grows into something larger that
needs more office or production space. Not many mountain communities also have the
industrial base found in Rutherford County.
The creative class economy also includes people in manufacturing who see a better way to do
something. A supportive and effective entrepreneurial community will encourage and provide
resources for that person to build his/her better “mousetrap.”
Rutherford County has the basic ingredients to foster a creative class economy.
Physical beauty, geographic assets – mountains, lakes, rivers, small farms
Mild climate - Isothermal Belt climate to enjoy the outdoors more days in the year
Historic towns – Rutherfordton and Forest City downtowns and Lake Lure 1920’s charm are the
basic ingredients to attract tourists and full time residents who are drawn by the history.
Pinehurst is a good example of how to use history to differentiate a tourist destination.
Good broadband fiber connections, providers – The Pangaea network and Dukenet both provide
service along US 64, US 74 and US 74A west through the heart of the tourist areas of the
County. Forest City has free wifi downtown and 144 strands of fiber down Main Street.
Lake Lure Academy – This charter school in the Lake Lure area provides an alternative to the
public school system.
Rutherford Regional Health System – Providing excellent healthcare for the region’s residents,
RRHS continues to grow.
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Isothermal CC – The College has a curriculum program on entrepreneurship and a Small
Business Center with designated staff. The Center provides one-on-one counseling and
workshops to support people who want to start or grow a business.
Certified Entrepreneurial Community – This AdvantageWest program prepares communities to
support and encourage new small business development. The process requires a team of
community leaders—representatives from local government, educators, business people and
established entrepreneurs are usually the core team. The process typically takes 18 months to
two years. The group uses a guidebook developed by AdvantageWest to work through the
steps.
Rutherford County Airport, Marchman Field – People who own airplanes are often independent
workers who use their planes for business trips. Quick access to a general aviation field is an
important asset for their home base.
Existing businesses – Two examples of businesses in this sector are Sunray and Southeastern
Rack Co., both on US 64, just east of Lake Lure. Sunray is owned by a person that lives in Lake
Lure. The company makes wheels for rollercoasters.
Active County TDA and Chamber – Any promotion of the local tourist assets and quality of life
will help and support the growth of this business sector. Marketing to the Creative Class is an
opportunity for the staffs of the TDA, Chamber and ED office to work together to promote the
County. This business sector is also an opportunity to grow the number of full time residents in
areas like Lake Lure that have historically been primarily tourist oriented. More full time
residents will help support the tourist assets like restaurants, office supply stores and doctors’
offices so they can stay open during the off season.
Entrepreneurial development is a major emphasis and target for the AdvantageWest regional
organization. Other programs and facilities supported by the region for this sector include the
Blue Ridge Entrepreneurial Council, Blue Ridge Angel Investors Network and the Blue Ridge
Food Ventures.
Film Recruitment
This business sector also has close ties to the tourist assets of the County. In addition, the
County has a wide diversity of different types of locations to offer. Greenfield has chosen this
sector not only because the County has assets to offer, but also because it is a low cost, high
return opportunity. This sector requires no specific infrastructure development costs, only
good cell service, restaurants and lodging. Even with state incentives, the increases in local
purchases and sales tax revenue coupled with the great publicity that a film brings to the area
are a good benefit. These benefits are worth the few hassles of disruption to everyday
activities, costs for security and time to support a project with answers to the “where do I
find…?” questions.
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The primary materials needed to recruit a film are lots of pictures of various possible locations
with willing owners. The ED staff can coordinate with the County TDA to determine which
organization will take the lead to recruit this sector with the region and the state. The lead staff
needs to take and catalog the pictures, and send them to Raleigh. Once a project decides to
film in the community, the lead organization will staff the project support needs.
This sector is a target for both the AdvantageWest and Charlotte regions as well as the NC Film
Office in the Department of Commerce. Because neither of the regions has a deep crew base,
lodging costs for outside crews add to the local revenues but make the actual film project costs
higher. Movies have been made in the County on several occasions in the past, including the
most famous – Dirty Dancing.
Lifecare Communities, Elder Care Facilities
As the US population ages (the oldest of the baby boomers turned 65 only three years ago),
facilities to house and take care of the health and welfare of the aging population will be in
more demand.
Rutherford County has a healthcare and hospital system that is gearing for the retirement
population with specialties in elder care diseases. As a result of the new association with
Mission Health Systems, Inc., RRHS will be more expansive and capable of offering specific
diagnostic and treatment options to all clients, including increased capabilities for older
patients.
Even more importantly, the County has the tourist assets of Lake Lure and the mountain
landscape that draw retirees to its beautiful setting. Sites in various places around the County
that are served with water and sewer, and that have a beautiful view or landscape can be used
for these facilities. A location near the hospital is important for the higher skilled nursing
facilities, but not the lifecare, assisted living or memory care units. No other special
infrastructure is required.
The newest trend in Lifecare facilities are complexes that incorporate all levels of elder care:
o condominiums and apartments for independent living
o apartments for those who need some daily assistance (such as help with meals
or medications)
o standard assisted living centers that offer limited nursing assistance
o memory care units
o skilled nursing care facilities
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Complexes can be quite large, providing resort - type services such as fine dining, concierge
access, racquet and golf facilities, and wellness centers. Some also have doctors' offices,
business centers and other personal care facilities located within the complex.
The County and/or its towns can apply for status with NC Commerce as a Certified Retirement
Community. The qualifications for this designation can be found on www.RetireNC.com . Initial
evaluation of the community and technical assistance are provided by Commerce's Division of
Community Assistance. Promotion of the communities is by the Division of Tourism.
Value Added Agriculture
Corporate farming operations are on the rise. National producers of greenhouse crops such as
tomatoes are considering NC for additional locations. Rutherford County will need to provide a
site that can accommodate greenhouses with as many as 25 acres under roof, as well as a low
electric rate to be able to attract these large commercial growers. Being located in NC's
Isothermal belt is advantageous -- offering growers a milder temperature and longer growing
season than found elsewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Such a location requires less heat
for greenhouses during cool periods, which is a cost saving bonus for any corporate grower.
Silviculture also offers some opportunities to the County. As the new trend of "on-shoring"
(i.e., bringing jobs sent off-shore back to the US) grows, furniture manufacturers are advertising
"Made in America" products again. This might lead to a renewed market for hardwood
products to be used in furniture. Most of the forests in and around Rutherford County contain
hardwoods that are important to the furniture industry.
The wood chip market is also a possibility, depending upon transportation and timber costs.
The NC Ports Authority is investing in new wood chip handling facilities at both the Morehead
City and Wilmington ports. Companies export both chips and pellets to Europe to use
extensively as power plant fuel. Rutherford County has an established wood products market
with pine and hardwood producers Parton and Gilkey. Several pellet producers have located in
NC in the past two years, and others continue to look for sites.
Marketing Recommendations
Greenfield believes that the primary role of local development is to prepare itself for economic
development prospects. The County has little chance to land a project unless there is a building
or site to purchase, the appropriate infrastructure is in place, as well as all the other location
requirements. Marketing only works when there is a hard asset to sell that matches the targets
of the larger marketing organizations.
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Rutherford County is not large enough to affordably make its brand well-known in the
corporate world. Almost no county can afford to duplicate the marketing efforts of larger
regional and statewide organizations. We recommend that the County piggyback, to the
greatest extent possible, on the marketing and branding efforts of allies. Rutherford County is
in the enviable position of being in the AdvantageWest region, but also adjacent to the
Charlotte and Upstate SC regions with which it also has significant similarities.
Rutherford ED should complete certain preparation tasks for marketing, in addition to
developing sites and buildings.
1- Make sure that any website information is available to download in pdf form. Make it
easy for the searcher to keep the information in a visually attractive format that can be
reused for client or committee presentations.
2- Ensure that all printed marketing materials are also available in electronic form. Make
the website download data and printed data match as precisely as possible.
3- Prepare County site and building datasheets with the infrastructure information about
the product that is relevant to local target sectors and in greater detail than the
Commerce datasheets. For each site or building, create a regional map showing the
location of the building, a local site map, an aerial map at a scale that shows the
surrounding land use, a topo map at a scale that shows only the site and detailed
descriptions/locations of the infrastructure service. The Commerce datasheets do not
provide all of this information. However, Rutherford ED can upload these maps and the
County datasheet to the Commerce website once they are complete.
Make sure the data is accurate. It is acceptable to follow behind a landowner or realtor
to make sure measurements are correct, doors are counted appropriately, and other
data sheet details are current, correct and complete. Also, make sure (good)
pictures are attached to the datasheets, especially for buildings. Consultants like
Greenfield might eliminate a location simply because it does not have a picture
attached. The assumption is that it is a less-than-attractive location.
4- Prepare a summary county profile with basic data that lists the County’s general
demographics, workforce data, industry mix and existing industries. Prepare a separate
datasheet for the assets relevant to each of the target industry sectors. The Commerce
profiles are not always appropriate for the target sectors.
5- List all available sites and buildings, as well as the ED organization, on as many economic
development websites as possible. AccessNC is the primary database for the NC
Commerce activity and is the first priority. Make sure that the products are also linked
and listed with AdvantageWest. Links on the Charlotte USA and Upstate SC Alliance may
be allowed, but if not, make sure the information is available to them electronically.
National websites such as Loopnet, Zoomprospector, Developmentalliance, locationone
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and others charge fees for listings but are often used by smaller companies who are not
familiar with the economic development network of professionals and who just web
surf for information.
6- Maintain a database of any and all contacts with allies, existing industries and prospects.
Although it is difficult to get into the habit of inputting data, the ability to quickly access
the information later will far outweigh the time it takes to input it. We understand that
the office has and uses ACT for this purpose. Make sure the information is maintained
and current. Use the grouping function to segregate the different types of contacts.
This database of prospects will facilitate scheduled, long term follow up that will
enhance success.
Once the County’s local products and assets are well-documented, Greenfield recommends the
following marketing tasks in the priority order listed.
1- Keep economic development allies informed of local products and other assets.
Maintain regular and scheduled contact with each of them. Invite them together and
separately to the County to see the sites and better buildings in person. Make sure they
are aware when any new building is added to the AccessNC database. Go to Raleigh and
other locations several times a year to visit in their offices. Confirm and discuss the
programs they offer and which industries they target for proactive recruitment. Find
out how Rutherford County can coordinate its marketing with the ally’s goals and tasks.
The most important allies which have proactive marketing programs include, in order of
priority for the recommended targets:
NC Commerce Raleigh project managers and finance staff
NC Commerce regional project managers
AdvantageWest marketing and project management staff
Duke Energy regional representative and marketing staff
ElectriCities of NC economic development staff and client management
consultants (Greenfield)
o CSX regional representative
o Charlotte USA marketing and project management staff
o Upstate SC Alliance marketing and project management staff
o
o
o
o
o
NOTE: This list of allies is also subject to change as the State's reorganizes its economic
development program.
2- Contact site selection consultants. They play a particularly important advisory role in
the target sectors we have recommended in this study. Send them information on
unique sites and programs only, not general information about the County. Send only
brief emails or postcards – any more detailed information will be lost in the shuffle of
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MANY similar mailings they receive each day. Any information in an envelope will
rarely, if ever, be opened.
An email subject should be very short and specific about the topic, such as “unique
heavy infrastructure site” or “new building available with redundant power and fiber” or
“new Data Center Institute trains Facebook employees.” If they are interested in the
topic, they will read the rest of the email to find out where it is and more details about
the product. Make sure that the sender is the same person you want them to contact if
they want more information. They will not look in the body of the email for a contact
name. It is easier to hit the “reply” button. Plus, they remember the marketing
person’s name when they see it over and over. Do not put in the subject “news from
RCED.” A consultant will never know who that is and will not look to find out anything
else. It is always interesting for them to hear about announcements of new projects.
It is also easy for them to save an attached electronic business card into their Contacts
folder, so also include an actual vcard with each email.
NC Commerce has annual consultant events, and we recommend that the County
consider a sponsorship for these events or any level of support that allows you to
attend. Perhaps AdvantageWest is allowed a certain number of attendees to the event,
and the County can use one of those slots. AdvantageWest also targets site consultants
and occasionally hosts them in the region. Always try to attend any event they host or
site visit they plan for consultants or corporate executives.
Plans are for the State of NC and other ED allies (such as Duke) to host events for clients
and consultants in conjunction with the 2014 Mens' and Ladies' US Golf Opens in
Pinehurst. This is an excellent time to investigate these opportunities and plan to
participate as customers from around the globe will be invited to enjoy NC's hospitality.
3- Attend trade shows for the target industries as the budget allows. Listen to speakers to
understand industry trends, meet people in the target companies and sector service
providers. Research the attendees ahead of time and make appointments to visit
companies/people that you think are in growth mode. FOLLOW UP immediately with
any people that you meet. Piggyback with any and all of the ally marketing
organizations and attend with them. Research the allies’ show schedules early in the
season and plan your show schedule accordingly. Also, local companies may be
attending certain shows important to their sector. They might be your entree into these
shows -- and direct access to certain suppliers they need.
4- Hire consultants to create a list and make direct calls to industry executives in the target
sectors. Only do this task if the regional organization is not doing it. If they are,
volunteer to oversee the project or make some of the calls. Make sure you are privy to
the results of the calls. Make SURE that any lead opportunities are followed up
appropriately. Most efforts of this type result in very few immediate project
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opportunities, but instead uncover companies that may have future opportunities. The
key to success in this task is relentless, scheduled, long term, continual follow up.
In addition to lists of companies in the target business sectors, additional lists can be
generated of companies within a 2 hour radius of Charlotte’s non-stop airline
destinations, or lists of aircraft owners who fly into the Rutherford County Airport.
Other marketing recommendations as time and budgets allow include the following.
Mine prospects from the travelers through the Rutherford County Airport. Airplanes that fly to
this airport can be tracked by their tail numbers to find people who already vacation here.
Perhaps these airplane owners/passengers can be recruited to live in the County and bring their
businesses with them. Both the creative class economy targets and corporate executives with
large companies can be found using private aircraft information.
Mine other tourism assets. Create a postcard with the best available buildings and sites. Place
it in the hotel racks for tourism information, in TDA packages, in the new Lake Lure kiosk, in the
airport. Use a title with a key message that says something like… “you are here for fun, now
bring your business back.”
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County Asset Map
This County Asset Map is an analysis of the economic development product that is, and should
be, available in the County. This analysis is not a detailed evaluation of each individual site and
building, but an overall review of the portfolio to detect products which might be missing in the
mix. Greenfield reviewed each and every building and site in Rutherford County that is
currently listed in AccessNC, the NC Department of Commerce database of available properties.
We also reviewed infrastructure locations to look for areas/corridors where additional sites
should be identified and pursued, to provide a complete range of site options.
The AccessNC database is the primary listing portal for the large majority of industrial projects
that consider NC. All corporate real estate executives, site selection consultants, national
realtors, and economic development allies use this database. The only prospects that might
not know about it are small companies that have never before engaged in site selection.
We believe that site identification is a proactive exercise to ensure that the County has a variety
of choices to offer prospective employers. Waiting for landowners to offer their parcels for sale
leaves to chance what should be a very purposeful effort. Sites should be available in all size
ranges and with service options including not only water and sewer, but also rail, natural gas,
unique electricity and fiber.
We did not perform an exhaustive search of the local real estate MLS. However, based on our
thorough windshield tour of the County, we did not see any significant properties with for
sale/lease signs that were not included in AccessNC. We understand that Rutherford County ED
has a good working relationship with local commercial and national industrial realtors. We
encourage the ED staff to foster those relationships to make sure that each real estate office in
the County understands the benefit of free listing and assistance in marketing their properties.
Unless an employer is already located in the County, new projects rarely use local realtors for
property searches. Because real estate is only one of many issues that are important for a new
employer, prospects more often use an established network of site consultants, national
realtors, state ED departments and internet ED sites to help choose locations for new projects.
Greenfield used detailed spreadsheets that are attached in the Appendix to analyze the issues
for each building and site that an industrial prospect will consider when searching for a
location. These issues are discussed in detail below, both in general and in relationship to the
target markets that we have recommended.
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Available Buildings Analysis
Functional available buildings are extremely important to an ED recruiting effort. Welldocumented statistics from many sources reflect that between 70-80% of industrial projects
looking for new locations search only for existing buildings, not greenfield sites. Some projects
may eventually choose to build their own building, but usually after an extensive search for
buildings. Even then, they often build only in communities where they visited an existing
building that did not totally meet their needs.
Twenty-seven (27) buildings are listed as available in Rutherford County for commercial uses.
The list does not include retail-only spaces. Four of the buildings are potential office space, and
could also be used for retail. The other 23 are warehouse/manufacturing spaces. A detailed
list, along with their significant attributes and Greenfield’s comments on marketability, is
included in the Appendix. A map of their locations is below.
Greenfield reviewed each building datasheet and actually visited each location. We extensively
evaluated the building site, surrounding land uses and access issues. We also toured the inside
of the buildings that we felt had the greatest opportunity for potential client visits.
Riverstone Shell Building
In our opinion, the 103,454 square foot Riverstone shell building provides the best opportunity
for potential manufacturers to locate in the County. It is the only Class A option available, even
in its shell condition, and it is located adjacent to interstate quality US 221 – approximately 15
miles from I-85, and it has a high pressure natural gas line adjacent to the site. But it has
limitations. First, it is only a shell and will require completion. It is also limited by topography
in the ability/cost to expand the footprint as the occupant grows. A building pad has been
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prepared for expansion to 200,000 sf, but it is a tight fit on the site. InSite Consulting evaluated
the building as a part of the Duke Energy Site Readiness Program and scored it well at 77.5 out
of 100.
The building has been on the market, unsold, for 10 years and has been shown to prospects on
many occasions during that time. ED allies who have shown the building mention price (in
comparison to competing facilities) and site topography (lack of expansion potential) as the
primary reasons that prospects eliminated the building.
Having prepared costs for upfitting the building to certain specifications will help the County
market the building. A cost for pouring the concrete floor, a particular size electrical service,
finishing the office space and other finishes can help a prospect more quickly compare this
building to others on their search list.
All American Homes
The second best option is the All American Homes building at the intersection of US 221 and
US 74. This is an excellent location at the interchange of two interstate quality highways. The
building has high ceilings and is on a large, generally flat site. The building is in very good
condition but is a less desirable metal building. The building is 2.4 miles from gas service.
Although formerly used for manufacturing, this building is more desirable for distribution
projects. All American Homes has only recently come onto the market so it has not been
shown often. Consequently, we have no anecdotal information on why it has not sold or
leased.
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Dan River Harris Finishing Building
The only other building that provides some limited opportunity for activities other than storage
is the Dan River Harris building on Jack McKinney Rd. It too, has significant limitations. It has
high ceilings, is in good condition and has significant gas service to the building. However, it is a
very large building in a rural location with difficult access to a four-lane highway. The location
alone will, and has already, eliminated it from many site searches. Prospects have also
mentioned the price as a reason for eliminating it from consideration.
The 23 industrial buildings range in size from 4,500 to 339,970 sq ft. Five (5) of them are less
than 10,000 sf, 11 are in the 20,000 to 60,000 sf range. The final 7 are well over 100,000 sf.
Almost half of them are over 30 years old, with none built in the last 10 years. Most of them,
except the ones noted above, are functional only for storage and are functionally obsolete for
modern manufacturing or distribution. Ceiling heights are a particular use limitation – 22 of the
buildings have ceilings at 22’ or lower. Fifteen of the buildings are in fair or poor condition and
only 5 are in excellent or very good condition. As can be seen in the above map, only 3 are
close to the four-lane highways. Many are in locations that have very difficult or long distance
access issues to the highways. Most are located within congested industrial areas on expansionlimited sites. Only three buildings have rail access, and each of them has other significant
limitations such as low ceilings or poor condition.
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Four of the buildings are primarily suitable for office space. One is an older building in
downtown, and one is a separate office building in a rural campus setting with two other
industrial buildings. Two of them are former strip commercial spaces in suburban areas. The
Rutherford Square facility is in very good condition and well-kept with some spaces occupied.
The former Food Lion facility at Oak St and US 74A is in a good access location and completely
vacant.
Most of these existing buildings have little useful function for the proposed target business
sectors or for any manufacturing prospect. Potential automotive projects are likely to be
suppliers to large final assembly plants. These projects usually require larger Class A buildings,
approximately 100,000 sf or larger. The Riverstone building is the only one that meets this
description. The Dan River Harris building is also a possibility. However, its location on a two
lane road will probably eliminate it from consideration at an early stage of the search since
deliveries to any assembly facility will be via truck.
Stand-alone data centers generally also require a Class A building. More importantly, they
require proximity to significant electrical and fiber infrastructure. Fortunately for the County,
most of these type projects prefer greenfield sites so the lack of available buildings in the
County is not a limitation in recruiting this sector. The Riverstone building in its shell condition
and in its location near electrical infrastructure could make it an option for a small data center
search.
The heavy process industry targets such as advanced materials, including primary metals, and
chemical producers are also less likely to require an existing building. These facilities, much like
the Horsehead project, have unique production systems where special infrastructure is more
important than a building. These projects will more likely search for sites with the appropriate
infrastructure in place and then build to their specifications.
Both the Rutherford Square and former Food Lion buildings are very good opportunities for a
small call center. Many former strip commercial facilities have been repurposed for call centers
in NC and in rural small towns like Rutherfordton and Forest City. For example, Quintiles, a
contract medical research organization, developed a data/call center in a former Winn-Dixie in
Williamston. And, a satellite TV company repurposed a strip center in Southern Pines for a
customer service call center.
Both of these buildings as well as the small Sylvan building in downtown Rutherfordton, can
also be used as office space for a small technology company. The Pangaea fiber network is
located adjacent to all three of these facilities, and other service providers are available as well.
Other buildings that can possibly be repurposed for call centers that have a technical service
component are the Tri-City Molds, ParMay, Wilbert Plastics and Spindale Partners buildings.
These buildings have low ceilings and could be renovated for bench work. The Spindale
Partners building with its wood floors and downtown location might make an architecturally
interesting facility for this use.
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The plastics target sector is very dependent on rail delivery of raw materials. Only three of the
existing buildings have rail service. Two of them are former plastics manufacturing facilities
with rail cars off-loaded to pellet tanks. The Wilbert Plastics building has been shown to
prospects several times, but its overall fair condition and low ceilings have eliminated it in the
search process so far. The Carlozzi building is in very poor condition with roof issues and
unkempt exterior and interior. It also has very difficult truck access for outgoing products.
Metal fabrication projects can fit into a wide range of building types and sizes, but still require
heavy internal electrical infrastructure which warehouse buildings do not have.
Ownership is another issue that impacts the ability of buildings to be available at more
competitive prices. Most of the buildings in Rutherford County are owned by investors and not
former user/owners or economic development entities. Investor owners have a different
perspective on ownership focused on cash flow and maximizing return on investment.
Consequently, they are more likely to lease the building for less than its highest and best use in
order to generate cash flow sooner. Former user owners are usually more flexible on pricing in
order to quickly divest of under-performing assets. Economic development entities can be
very flexible on price negotiations, because jobs and tax base provide further return on
investment in addition to revenue from the sale of the building.
In a metropolitan area where the supply and demand for buildings is more balanced, the pricing
issue is handled by the marketplace. However, in more rural counties where the marketplace is
not as robust, any imbalance can negatively affect competitive pricing and availability of
industrial buildings for new manufacturing projects. For the most part, industrial buildings do
not appreciate in value the same as other commercial buildings and residential real estate.
Functional obsolescence quickly impacts the value of an industrial building.
The AdvantageWest Region has only 33 other buildings listed in AccessNC that are over
70,000sf, and no shell/spec building in that size range. Therefore, the Riverstone building
should be in demand for projects looking in this region. On the other hand, Rutherford County
has more natural affinity with the Charlotte region or Greenville/Spartanburg, SC. The
Charlotte region has 141 buildings listed over 70,000sf, and 15 shell/spec buildings in the same
size range. Five of these buildings are outside of Mecklenburg County in locations more similar
to Rutherford – in Lincolnton, Salisbury, Albemarle, Concord and Shelby. One recently sold in
Statesville, and it had also been on the market for almost 10 years. (Comparable pricing is not
useful information since the upfit costs for a very specific user are such a large percentage of
the final price.) Unfortunately, the Riverstone building has significant competition when
viewed against other shell buildings in the outlying Charlotte area. Greenville and Spartanburg
counties in SC also have 31 buildings in the size range, including several shell/spec spaces.
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Available Sites Analysis
Rutherford County has 10 existing site areas listed as available on AccessNC, as shown on the
map below. They range in size from 20 to 285 acres. The Riverstone Business Park is listed
several ways – as a single 195 acre site, and with six other separate interior sites ranging in size
from 10 to 47 acres. The 285 acre Edwards Farm is listed as two separate sites of 136 and 149
acres.
Available Sites in Rutherford County
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Wade Matheny Site
The 150 acre Wade Matheny site, shown below, is the only site that has all of the heavy
industrial infrastructure adjacent to the site – water, sewer, natural gas, rail, electric
transmission lines and fiber. Most importantly, it is the only rail served site, and it has both the
CSX on the east and Thermal Belt on its west boundary. It also has 2700’ of frontage on US74 at
the interchange with US 221A.
The site’s weakness is its surrounding land uses - substantial residential development on its
north and west sides. The surrounding land use on the east and south are other industrial uses.
The residential development on the west side is somewhat buffered by a strip of commercial
uses between Beaver Street and Broadway. The residential development on the north side is
buffered by some additional undeveloped land that could be used (perhaps purchased), along
with the site’s own large acreage as a buffer.
Greenfield recommends that the ED staff ask CSX to create example site plans that show how
rail can serve a large project on this site. This site is an appropriate location for automotive
suppliers, plastics manufacturers and large general industrial operations -- especially those with
a consumer product brand that wants highway frontage. It might be appropriate for a mediumsized advanced materials project with no significant air emissions (too close to other dense
development). The site would be very appropriate for a converted paper or industrial
machinery project. The site is only 1 mile from the Forest City wastewater treatment plant so
could handle a large industrial waste project like a food processor. Any project would need to
be of a size that the available property can be its own buffer. The site is not appropriate for
data centers due to the adjacent gas and rail lines.
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Riverstone Business Park
The Riverstone Business Park is the only Class A industrial park in the County. It contains one
existing industry (Meritor) and the Riverstone shell building. It is currently listed as 195 acres,
but an additional 600+ acres are adjacent at the back (shown in blue on the large map below)
that can be added for a very large project. The 195 acre section of the park is divided into
several sites ranging from 10 to 47 acres. Although the site is in the County without zoning, the
Park has restrictive covenants that will maintain its Class A status.
The site has all of the heavy industrial infrastructure except rail. The rail goes through the
middle of the 600+ acre parcel, but severe topography and flood zone areas (see small map
below) to the east limit its service to the parcels in the park that are closer to US 221. It would
take a very large rail user to justify a river bridge to serve the site. The electrical, gas and fiber
infrastructure are a particular strength. The site has frontage along US 221. This is the closest
site to I-85.
Riverstone Business Park Site area
This site’s major limitation is severe topography that limits the size of the buildable area for any
single project without major site development costs. This is an excellent site for automotive
suppliers and perhaps for a data center in between the rail and the gas line. It is also a very
good site for an advanced materials project that does not require rail, such as metal fabrication
or glass production facility.
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Rutherford 221 Corporate Center
The Rutherford 221 Corporate Center is 103 acres on two sides of Henson Road at US 211,
approximately 20 miles from I-85. It has all industrial infrastructure except rail and sewer.
Sewer is over 3 miles away. The rail is approximately one mile from the site, but in between is
difficult topography crossing Floyd’s Creek. Significant electric transmission is nearby on the
east side of the site and natural gas is along US 221. The site has 1700+ feet of frontage along
US 221. The site is owned by the County, and can be priced as part of an aggressive incentive
package.
Rutherford 221 Corporate Center
This site can best be used for the automotive target sector, machinery manufacturing, metal
fabricating and any other industrial facility that does not need rail (not plastics). The site is not
appropriate for a data center due to the gas line on US 221. In order to properly market this
site, a detailed sewer extension plan and cost estimate should be completed, as well as a Park
master plan that shows the layout for smaller sites with internal infrastructure. Rutherford ED
can also ask CSX to evaluate the possibility of rail service and determine the type of user that
would make a lead track feasible. If rail is feasible, this site can be an excellent location for a
heavy process project including a chemical or primary metals production facility on the north
side of Henson Road.
Newton Cole and Shiloh Sites
The Newton Cole site is about 1 mile farther north, on the opposite side of US 221 from the
Rutherford 221 Corporate Center site. Its only appeal is the 650 feet of frontage on US 221 and
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the gas line. The Shiloh site is another mile north and to the west of US 221. Without the
frontage, this site has no particular location advantages. These sites are also 1-2 miles from
sewer service, and both are priced too high for their lack of unique industrial value.
Edwards Farm Site
The 285 acre Edwards Farm East (149 acres) and West (136 acres) sites are located just south of
US 74 on both sides of Ellenboro-Henrietta Road. The sites are not visible from the highway but
have good access within one mile from the interchange. The site’s strengths are access to US
74, orientation to the Charlotte market and to electric transmission. Both high pressure natural
gas and fiber are less than ½ mile away. The parcels are priced to sell quickly. However, rail is
not available, and sewer is either across US 74 or 3 miles away. These are the exact same
limitations as the Rutherford Corporate Park site, making it suitable for the same target sectors.
The difference is its orientation towards the Charlotte market (53 miles to the Charlotte airport)
rather than I-85.
Edwards Farm West and East
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Wells Site
The Wells site is 42 acres located just over a mile from US 74 and Old Caroleen Road. The
buildable acres are limited by a Duke transmission line through the middle of the site, and the
connection from that line to Facebook. High pressure natural gas is located nearby on Pine
Street Ext. The site has an electrical and gas advantage, but few other advantages for
development as an industrial site. If there is no competitive issue with Facebook or
infrastructure saturation, the site is a possible location for another data center if the gas line is
far enough away.
Wells site with Transmission Lines
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Sparks Site
The Sparks site has 3,500 feet of US 74 frontage at the interchange with US 221, across US 74
from the All American Homes building and across US 221 from Timken. This interchange area is
obviously a good area for manufacturing. Visibility, access and natural gas are its strengths. Its
limitation is topography – approximately 1/3 of the 67 acre site is in the flood zone and several
acres are covered in a small lake/pond. Perhaps ¼ of the site is buildable. Greenfield strongly
recommends that an engineering analysis be performed to show the potential site
development opportunities and limitations.
The site is best used for small consumer products manufacturing that are willing to pay for the
visibility. Its location on the interchange also makes it a good site for an automotive supplier.
Sparks Site with Flood Zone
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Spindale Industrial Park
The Spindale Industrial Park is a large, 90 acre site, adjacent to the Spindale wastewater
treatment plant, but that is its only advantage. Consequently, its appeal is limited to high
process waste generators such as small food processors, textile dye houses or perhaps a small
specialty chemical producer that does not need rail. Otherwise, it is a difficult 3 miles through
Town for truck transport to the four lane US 74A. The site is owned by the Town and so can be
priced competitively as part of an aggressive incentive package.
Spindale Industrial Park and Waste Treatment Plant
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Broyhill Site
The Broyhill site is 20 acres with frontage along the former Thermal Belt Railroad, now the
Spindale Rail Trail. This site has no distinct advantage except its location adjacent to other
existing industrial facilities. The site is also eight miles to four lane US 74 through the middle of
Ruth or Rutherfordton. It is priced similarly to the Shiloh site, which is along the US 221
corridor and out of the traffic congestion. The Broyhill site is just off of US 221 going north from
Ruth. It might be a future site opportunity when the US 221 widening project starts, but that
project is years away (2030 construction date).
Other Site Opportunities
In reviewing the existing sites that are available in Rutherford County, Greenfield found several
good sites, but none that are perfect for the combination of unique assets found in the County.
The Wade Matheny site has all the infrastructure, but is very close to Forest City making it a
difficult location for a large advanced materials or other heavy process industry. Riverstone is
in a remote location but has difficult rail access. The Rutherford Corporate Park, Edwards Farm
site and others have no sewer or rail. The most important type of site that is missing is a large
rail site.
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The most expensive infrastructure to build are rail and electric transmission lines (over $1
million per mile depending on topography). Therefore, sites for heavy process targets need to
be located closer to the rail and electric lines, with less emphasis on highway visibility. The
water, sewer and gas lines need to be close but can be extended for less cost.
Greenfield focused our investigation of other potential site areas where the four lane highway
corridors, rail corridors, gas lines and significant electrical infrastructure are located - in the
south and eastern portions of Rutherford County. This area also has generally better
topography, is a reasonable distance from the larger towns, and is farther away from the
County’s primary tourist infrastructure. We focused on potential sites along both US 74 and US
221. Along those corridors we focused on the interchanges and the areas where the railroad
tracks cross or come near to the highways. US 221 is scheduled to be widened to four lanes
going north from Ruth, but not until 2030, so sites along this corridor can be investigated in the
future.
Rail sites are hard to find. The tracks through the County generally follow the river valleys,
making access to flat areas expensive to build through creeks and flood zones that drain to the
Broad River. Because rail lines have a maximum turn radius and slope gradients, they take
more acreage and grading to serve a site in difficult topography.
Greenfield focused its investigation of potential new sites on the general areas listed below.
We did not take into consideration or evaluate the actual parcels or parcel sizes, but focused on
access to transportation, access to infrastructure and topography. Our recommendation on
whether or not to pursue each area is also provided below.
US 74 / US 221 interchange, southwest quadrant – NO
Poor’s Ford Rd between US 74 and US 221- NO
Northeast side of US 221 near Harris, where CSX crosses US 221 - YES
East of US 221 between State Line Rd and Hine Rd where CSX crosses US 221 - YES
US 74 and Union Rd interchange – MAYBE
US 74 and Old Caroleen Rd interchange - NO
US 74 / US 74A / to Race Path Church Rd - YES
US 64 and NC 9 in Lake Lure - YES
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US 74 / US 221 interchange, southwest quadrant – This area has significant frontage along both
US 74 and US 221, but it has no strengths that are better than the Sparks site in the northwest
quadrant of the interchange. The site area is long and narrow with Long Branch Rd as its
southern boundary. There is also a creek and small pond on its east side, interfering with
access to the site off of US 221. Greenfield recommends no further investigation of this area
unless the Sparks site is sold.
US 74 / US 221 Interchange
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Poor’s Ford Rd between US 74 and US 221 – The intersection of Poor’s Ford Road and US 74 is
not an interchange. The site area is accessed from US 221. The west side of Poor’s Ford Road is
somewhat difficult topography, and Timken occupies the east side where the topography
allows. South of US 74, Poor’s Ford Rd is the western edge of the area discussed above.
Greenfield sees no strategic advantage for this entire site area and so recommends no further
investigation.
Poor’s Ford Road between US 221 and US 74
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Northeast side of US 221 near Harris, where CSX crosses US 221 – Greenfield recommends
further investigation of this site area from the rail crossing north to the Rutherford 221
Corporate Park at Henson Road. Since the County does not have zoning protections,
Rutherford ED and the County should investigate an alternate method to protect this entire
area for industrial users. The area is large enough, with reasonable topography and all the
infrastructure except sewer (located 3 miles away). With the rail service, the site area is
attractive for large projects including specialty chemicals and advanced materials such as
plastics, primary metals production and foundries. CSX should be engaged to further
investigate the feasibility and cost of rail service to this area.
US 221 between Henson Road and the CSX track crossing
Corp Pk
CSX RR
Transmission line
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East of US 221 between State Line Rd and Hines Rd where CSX crosses US 221 – The CSX spur
that serves the Duke Cliffside plant parallels Hines Rd and State Line Rd and the Broad River
after it crosses US 221. This area has the most significant electrical infrastructure of any
existing site or other potential area. It is also a very good site for rail service because this
section of track is not a main line, and therefore has more flexibility for service delivery issues.
Because of numerous creeks along that path, the best site area is between Durham and Camp
Ferry Roads. This area also allows for a major process industry that can take advantage of water
intake from and discharge directly into the Broad River. A high pressure gas main is located
along US 221 approximately 2 miles from Durham Rd. Greenfield recommends further
investigation of this area.
East of US 221 along State Line Rd and Hines Rd/CSX
US 221
Hines Rd / CSX
State Line Rd
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US 74 and Union Rd interchange – This site is an undeveloped interchange along US 74 with no
water or sewer service. The area also has no other significant infrastructure, except access to
the Broad River. The west side topography is difficult, and the nearby east side Cleghorn
residential real estate development is incompatible with industrial uses. This site is perhaps an
opportunity for a large lifecare community development with interesting topography near the
river.
US 74 and Union Road interchange
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US 74 and Old Caroleen Rd interchange – The north and southwest sides of this intersection
have difficult topography, and the southeast corner is developed with Facebook and the State
Data Center. The only site area possibility is an area between Facebook and the Wells site. It is
slightly closer to the highway than the Wells site, but still has no visibility and no other strategic
advantages. This is a good site for another data center if the infrastructure is not saturated, so
Greenfield recommends a low priority investigation of this area.
Southwest Quadrant of US 74 and Old Caroleen Rd interchange
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US 74/ US 74A to Race Path Church Rd – This site area definitely deserves additional
investigation. This is a large triangular shaped area with very flat topography compared to
other potential site areas of the County. The former Cone Mills railroad line switched south
from the CSX main tracks through the middle of this area and its abandoned right-of-way could
be an excellent route for a new industrial lead track. All infrastructure is located within the site
area except gas and fiber which are from 1 to 3 miles away. Electric transmission is nearby on
the south side of US 74. This site is a very good potential location for a large rail-served
industrial park and Greenfield recommends further investigation.
US 74/ US 74A to Race Path Church Rd
Race Path
Church Rd
74A / CSX
US 74
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US 64 and NC 9 in Lake Lure – Greenfield also recommends an investigation of parcels in Lake
Lure near this intersection for a flex space to accommodate building contractors, production
oriented small companies and medium-sized technology companies. The water, sewer and
fiber are all available in this area, and the new Lake Lure master plan has set aside this part of
the community as a location for future commercial development. Natural gas is not an option
since it is over 8 miles away.
US 64 and NC 9 in Lake Lure
Further research on the recommended areas should include a review of the parcels and
surrounding land use, and discussions with all the infrastructure providers to understand the
service limitations and costs of line extensions to the proposed areas. Discussions with
landowners should not take place until after further physical research. For the rail sites, CSX
can provide track layout options and master plan designs to help determine the feasibility and
preliminary cost of service to the three proposed rail site areas. Water and sewer line sizes and
treatment capabilities should be discussed with the providers. Gas service limitations and
service pressures need to be further evaluated. To determine the fiber capabilities, especially
for the potential data center sites, a County-wide fiber study should be completed. Once this
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further investigation is complete, the County can decide which of the sites it wants to pursue
for further development, or how to protect them all from incompatible future development.
Other product development recommendations
In addition to the physical issues of site development, Rutherford County ED needs to
determine the funding sources and mechanisms to further study and then implement these
development opportunities or others that surface in the future. A non-profit organization that
can leverage both public and private dollars is a well-used mechanism in other NC communities.
A more detailed description of this mechanism is discussed in the last section of this report. For
now, we will only discuss the types of expenditures that are needed for an ongoing product
development plan.
The first step is this preliminary county-wide overview of site area possibilities, which is now
complete. The next step is to further investigate the opportunities that have the best potential
as described above and then prioritize the development tasks, based on the available budget.
The Duke Energy Site Readiness Program might be one funding source to help with this level of
evaluation.
Once the priorities are established, contact with the landowners is critical. Greenfield generally
recommends joint ventures with landowners, instead of land purchase, as the best way to
leverage available funds. Control, who brings what value to the project, and long term joint
venture agreements are important to establishing the future returns on investment to both
parties. Private dollars are best used for the land and public dollars for infrastructure.
Once particular sites are chosen for development, Greenfield recommends the County
complete additional detailed site evaluations, such as those needed for NC Commerce site
certification. These evaluations include Phase 1 (and further if necessary) environmental
studies, soils and other geotechnical investigations, service extension engineering plans and
cost estimates, detailed topographical maps, construction site development estimates, site
master plans, and marketing materials that include all of this information. Once the plans are in
place, the next steps are to implement the development tasks as funding is available.
Greenfield recommends that the potential sites be evaluated to the next level and then
prioritized along with existing sites to determine which sites are chosen for the certification
level expenditures.
In the earlier marketing section of this report, Greenfield suggested that better, more detailed
site information packages should be developed for each of the available sites and buildings.
This is especially important in Rutherford County where local strengths are unusual
infrastructure capabilities. This type of capability is not well represented on the NC Commerce
datasheet format. The Riverstone building already has this type of package available. We have
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attached in the appendix an example of a site package that we like from another county. In this
example, aerial maps show the parcel outline, infrastructure size and locations in relationship
to the site, topographical information, flood/wetlands areas, zoning as well as the
transportation infrastructure.
In discussions with both railroads, we discovered the possibility of many small infill industrial
site opportunities. These are less than 10 acre sites with frontage on the railroad that are
suitable for small rail projects. One example is a small site with a spur where the two rails
connect in Bostic. There are very few rail projects that look for sites that small, but when they
do, these sites are very hard to find. Greenfield has one such prospect. We have been looking
for more than three years for a 10 acre rail site, with a particular rectangular configuration,
priced less than $250,000, zoned for heavy industry, within 75 miles of Charlotte. Greenfield
recommends that the ED staff work closely with both railroads to look at all parcels along both
lines to uncover rail service site opportunities, such as the one below, both large and small.
Bostic Infill site
Encourage developers to create a small flex space building in Lake Lure, near the intersection of
US 64 and Highway 9 in an area that will allow light industrial uses. This space can be leased to
contractors (plumbers, electricians, builders) and other entrepreneurs for small production
companies. This type of space can benefit and encourage the creative class economy target
companies. Greenfield heard anecdotal information that contractors and other service workers
are difficult to find for building repair projects in the Lake Lure area. Providing space for them
will help attract this type of business to the area.
Because the County has several large buildings that are not in good condition and not useful
sales tools, perhaps some technical information provided to the owners will prompt them to
clean up, fix up and repair the spaces to make them more sellable – or encourage demolition.
In some cases the site infrastructure, such as rail service, is more valuable without the building.
An engineering facilities review and a comparative price analysis might be good leverage to
coax them into an investment that will enhance sales potential.
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Hire an engineering firm to do a detailed facilities review of the larger buildings that have at
least 20 foot ceilings. Perhaps the owners will be willing to pay for half the cost. This detailed
review can offer the owners a list of items that need attention to make the building more
attractive to potential reuse opportunities, or provide costs that reflect demolition as the lower
cost alternative. Or it may even give the Town/County enough information to condemn the
building. Perhaps the Town/County can provide some cost sharing or other incentives to
encourage demolition for the properties that need it. The buildings that would benefit from
this type of analysis include, Cone Mills, Joan Fabrics, Carlozzi and Wilbert. The type of
information that is provided in this type of analysis includes:
Property condition assessment
Building envelope studies
Roofing, moisture and waterproofing studies
Pavement condition evaluation
ADA studies
Floor slab moisture studies
Based on Greenfield’s experience with industrial sites all over NC and other Southeastern
states, we believe the asking prices for industrial sites in Rutherford County are too high for a
rural county. In rural counties, it is often difficult to find comparable sales for an appraiser to
use for an official price appraisal, especially in a county with no zoning. A lack of zoning leads to
industrial uses competing with higher value uses for the site. Perhaps a national industrial real
estate firm might be willing to provide a more general market price analysis or opinion that can
encourage owners to be realistic about an asking price for a building or site. A price opinion
might also provide insight into what repairs will most enhance the marketability of the
buildings.
Discussions with local utility providers indicated that some existing buildings in the County may
be under-utilized. For example, we believe there are some buildings with rail service that are
being rented only for storage and the tenants do not need the rail. Greenfield recommends
that the ED staff double check the status of all the industrial buildings in the County to ascertain
possibilities for other reuse opportunities. If the building is being leased on a short term basis,
perhaps it can also be listed as available for other more functional uses. Discuss long and short
term flexibility with the owners. For example, if a highly valued manufacturer wants the
building, they might be able to buy down the lease, and phase in while the renter phases out.
Once the existing and potential sites have been prioritized, the Rutherford ED should choose
the best site opportunity and apply for a subzone status with one of the existing Foreign Trade
Zones in NC, the closest of which is located at the Charlotte Douglas Airport.
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Other Recommendations
In addition to the recommendations outlined earlier for target sectors, marketing and product
development, Greenfield makes the following general recommendations to further enhance
the economic development effort in the County.
Create a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation that can accept both private and public funding for
economic development projects, programs and other efforts. The Rutherford County ED is
currently a department of County government. As such, its only direct funding for operations is
from the County’s public funds. Greenfield believes that an economic development program
impacts a far broader audience. Discussions with other stakeholders in Rutherford County
indicate they are willing and capable of assisting the effort. It is common practice in the field to
tap leadership, support and funding from both public and private sources.
The use of public funds for economic development, although liberally defined by NC law and
practice, still has limitations. Consequently, an organization that can receive private funds to
use for marketing support or, more importantly for specific projects, is a valuable tool. Private
funds are often used for expenditures that the public might question or that have longer term
benefits, such as land purchases. The entities are often used to own and develop properties
and also to provide deal closing funds.
The local economic development function is operated under several different structures in NC
and other states. The function can be a department of local government, city or county, like
Rutherford County and the City of High Point. At the other end of the spectrum, private
organizations such as Wilmington Business Development or the Charlotte Chamber of
Commerce perform the function. Most commonly, it is a hybrid organization such as a
Commission or a Development Corporation. Under a commission or authority, the funding is
usually from multiple public sources (towns and the county) and the staff reports to a board
that is appointed by the funding entities. A development corporation is usually a 501(c)6 nonprofit organization that is funded with both private and public dollars. The board generally has
members that are appointed by the public funding entities and additional private members that
are appointed by the board at large. The staff is hired by and reports to the board of directors.
There are also a number of variations of these structures that can be used to operate an
economic development organization. A 501(c)3 foundation that can receive charitable
donations can also be used to fund some types of economic development projects. In some NC
communities, the ED staff works for the public sector and a separate non-profit corporation
(sometimes known as a Committee of 100) exists strictly as a funding tool for special projects.
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Greenfield has no recommendation for the best way to structure private funding for economic
development in Rutherford County. The best structure for any given community depends on
where the money and control and leadership are located. Rutherford County has private sector
leaders that can and will contribute their time, money, knowledge and connections to an
organization that is established to promote jobs and expand the tax base within the County.
And, based on our conversations with Town leaders, Greenfield believes that they would also
contribute to the effort, if asked. We believe the County should convene a series of meetings
with interested parties and discuss which structure might work best for the stakeholders.
The County and each of the towns need an established incentive policy for new business. Any
former policies should be updated, embraced and formalized. is important that potential new
or expansion projects have as much certainty as possible about their operating costs for any
project. If the local government wants to maintain some leeway in the incentive package that is
offered (due to availability of funds or other more subjective factors), the policy can include
formulas that have a range of values to allow for negotiation or to reflect community goals.
Having an established formula also makes it easier for the ED office to craft a client response
quickly. Often, consultants require local EDCs to complete an extensive project questionnaire
that asks for a variety of detailed information on the site / building, work force, and other
project requirements.
Almost all of these questionnaires ask about incentives or local
government support for a project. All of this information is used to calculate preliminary capital
and operating cost comparisons. In some cases the company or consultant might try to gather
the information by researching the ED or community websites. The responses to these
questionnaires and website information are used to eliminate locations from consideration.
When the company is performing early due diligence, they use the community’s initial
commitment to the process by reviewing a published incentive policy. A locale that does not
have an incentive policy runs the risk of being eliminated from consideration almost at the
beginning of the search.
It is also useful for the public (voters/residents) to understand the return on investment
formulas that are the basis for such a policy. County financial participation is not corporate
welfare, but is an investment to create future tax base and jobs; and, therefore lower tax rates
for everyone. If the public is aware of how and why the policy exists, they will more likely
support it, and the economic development effort in general.
Another benefit to having an established policy is that existing industry can understand it and
see it as a tool for expansion. When policies for specific new projects are crafted on a case by
case basis, existing industries often believe, as the largest taxpayers, they pay for them. A
written policy aids local companies in understanding the formula and its benefit to them via the
long term positive impact on the overall tax calculation. An understanding of the benefits
creates a supportive ally with this important stakeholder group.
A local government incentive policy should be a formula based on return on investment (ROI).
It can consider both direct and indirect revenue to the government entity. DIRECT revenue
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comes from increases in property tax, sales tax and water/sewer usage (and electricity when
the community provides it). INDIRECT revenues come from jobs created (a calculation of
spending power based on wages) for both direct hires of the new or expanded company and
indirect jobs, as during construction. Jobs create direct revenue at the state level by increasing
the payroll taxes.
The formula also includes the number of years over which the return is calculated, and the
value of the return itself. Risk issues and present value can be used to decide whether an entity
will grant the funds upfront or over time. The formula can use ranges to reflect how
aggressively the community wants to recruit certain types of projects. For example, a sliding
scale can be a part of the formula so that the larger the employment (or higher the average
wage), the more years can be used to compute the return; or the lower the return you are
willing to accept, thereby allowing the government entity to invest more funds. The
community can use that same sliding scale for projects that support infrastructure needs - such
as projects that use more (unused surplus) water treatment capability, or that leverage a new
large line that reaches an underserved county area. The formula can be manipulated to reflect,
and truly provide incentive for, the communities’ goals and desires.
The formula can also change for different types of businesses. For example, companies that
create manufacturing or other primary jobs (jobs that are not dependent on the local market)
may have one ROI or allowed inputs. Projects that are supported by the local market, like
machine shops or major retailers, may be excluded, allowed a much smaller ROI, or have an
entirely different formula.
Continue increased coordination with the Tourism Development Authority, Chambers and
Towns’ Community Development directors. The functions of all these organizations fall into the
broader definition of economic development. They facilitate job creation and develop assets
that expand the local tax base and revenue. They promote business growth and bring people
to the community from the outside. These organizations have similar missions and goals as the
County’s ED department, but different strategies for achieving them. All of these organizations
should closely coordinate and support each other. Coordination is especially important in rural
counties where resources (staff and funding) are limited. The specific types of issues, strategies
or projects that can overlap between these organizations include, with examples:
Film recruitment
Small business development and support
Grant writing
Leadership Development Institute
General community infrastructure/asset development and support
 Roads – promote interstate designation for US74, coordinate TIP
priorities, wayfinding signs
 Schools – funding support, increased STEM curriculum
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Community College – support/ encourage specific curriculum
development, perhaps distance learning in cooperation with NCSU’s
engineering school
Healthcare – recruit additional medical infrastructure - urgent care, drug
rehabilitation or psychiatric hospital
Airport – runway expansions, new hangars, repair services
Recruit additional lodging / motels – for tourists and business travelers
Better coordination between and long range planning for water/sewer
systems
Promote fiber optic expansion, better cell service in the mountains
Cross marketing promotions
Commercial real estate database
Promote recreation assets – trail connections
Greenfield recommends that the directors of these organizations meet for lunch once a month
to talk about community issues and share ideas on how they can help each other and the
community. Discussions can include who takes the lead on each issue, how to use each other’s
staff resources, how to leverage each other’s funding, how to coordinate leadership, how to
cross market to target audiences.
Work to promote upgrades to US 74. In areas east of Rutherford County, this highway has
already been designated as the future I-74/73. This designation is critical as a site selection
factor. Lobby for sections of the highway around Shelby and Monroe to be completed as
interstate quality. These two unfinished sections are limiting factors for traffic from Rutherford
County to the Port of Wilmington.
Promote more and better wayfinding signs. Rutherford County has three US 74 road corridors
and two US 221 corridors. These roads need different names so that visitors and through traffic
will not be confused as they traverse the County. Local roads that cross these major corridors
need signs. Tourist attractions need wayfinding signs. Perhaps available industrial buildings
and major employers can also have wayfinding signs.
The County currently has no zoning ordinance. Consequently, some measures need to be put in
place to protect manufacturing from encroachment by incompatible adjacent uses. Unless
there is some official protection, manufacturers typically need to purchase additional acreage
for a project to provide its own buffer. This additional acreage can add to both the initial
capital cost and ongoing property tax cost of the project. Short of zoning, other mechanisms
such as corridor designations, or high coverage ratios and setback requirements, can help
protect the manufacturer and the neighboring uses. Billboard restrictions to limit corridor
clutter are also important. These measures are particularly important to protect future
industrial site areas in major transportation corridors like US 221.
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Work to better coordinate wastewater treatment systems within the County. Most of the
water systems in the County are interconnected with each other. These physical
interconnections provide the opportunity to serve larger projects if the need arises.
Unfortunately, the sewer collection and wastewater treatment systems are not as wellcoordinated. The existence of several smaller treatment plants instead of one larger facility
limits the size of project that can be served by municipal treatment. Promoting a long range
plan for coordinating wastewater treatment services throughout the County can lead to
potential opportunities to cooperatively serve a larger customer.
Specific assets need to be created or improved to develop the creative class economy. Some
of these issues are mentioned elsewhere but are summarized here together for a better
understanding of the needs. The primary area that will benefit from this target sector is Lake
Lure. However, other towns, specifically Rutherfordton and Forest City, have available
downtown office space (especially second floor over retail space) that can be used for new
small businesses. Forest City’s free wifi and substantial fiber capability are also supporting
assets for small technology companies. The following assets need improvement:
Promote trail connections between Lake Lure and other trail areas, including the
Overmountain Victory Trail and the Thermal Belt Rail Trail
Recruit seasonal service employees to work in the resort areas
Encourage contractors to provide repair services to the Lake Lure area and its
seasonal homes and business facilities
Push for better cell coverage in the mountain areas
Install better wayfinding signs in tourist areas to direct visitors to remote assets
and businesses
Develop flex space on Hwy 9 near US64 for contractors, and small production
companies
Help Lake Lure and other towns achieve the Certified Entrepreneurial
Community stamp from AdvantageWest
Investigate a Techshop franchise (www.techshop.ws) - a membership facility that
provides access to machinery, tools and software for prototyping, idea testing,
small batch production
Investigate a collaborative meeting space, such as www.opendesk.com, for
independent workers who have no permanent office
Maintain staffing at its present level. For a county the size of Rutherford, Greenfield believes
the current staff size of four is appropriate to cover all the functions at this time – director, 2
staff and one office manager. If additional operating budget is available, we recommend that it
is used for product development projects, not an additional person.
Attend NCEDA meetings and professional conferences on relevant topics. These meetings are a
good opportunity to network with economic development allies, as well as competitors. It is a
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good source for intelligence on new programs and prospect activity. As budgets and time
allow, also attend an occasional SEDC and IEDC event.
Apply for HUBZone designation. Companies located within these zones are given priority status
when bidding on contracts to supply products or services to the state and federal government.
This status is particularly useful and sought after for defense contractors and, for example, can
be helpful to Diamondback Tactical.
According to the US SBA, Rutherford County qualifies as a non-metro county HUBZone. A
county can qualify on either of two standards – median household income is <80% of the nonmetro NC median household income; or the unemployment rate is >140% of the US or NC rate.
In 2013 Rutherford qualifies under the unemployment rate basis. Two additional census tracts
within the county also qualify separately – tract 9608 in Forest City and 9607, River Hills area in
the far northern part of the County. The census tract qualification also has two qualifying
standards – poverty rate >25%; or 50% of households have incomes<60% of the area median
household income.
“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance,
and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Vision without action is a daydream.
Action without vision is a nightmare.
Japanese Proverb
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