Gov. Mike Easley might have prematurely announced on June 13 an expansion by Colony Tire Corp., which was, according to the governor’s press release, “made possible in part by a $50,000 grant from the One North Carolina Fund.”
The total cost of the expansion was $800,000, Easley said. His grant might not be enough to seal the deal, however.
Charles Creighton, CEO of Colony Tire, said he might turn down the money and move his operation to Virginia. Creighton said he recently uncovered $160,000 in unexpected costs in his expansion project in Edenton, which is making him think twice about accepting the grant.
Creighton said that he already has a warehouse for the expansion in Virginia, and that it won’t cost him the extra money. However, he hasn’t decided whether he is willing to pay for the sprinkler system required by Chowan County, which is the costly unexpected problem.
Another recent economic development announcement contains misleading information. On June 6, Easley announced a $150,000 grant to what he referred to as a “newly formed” company, Dill Air Controls Products LLC.
A recent story by The News & Observer of Raleigh tells the history of the company. The N&O reports that the company has been in North Carolina since the late 1960s, but that it is simply under new ownership. At the beginning of this year, Eaton Corp., the company before Dill, decided to shut down production and liquidate the shop. But in March, the business was auctioned off to two Chinese companies.
One of those two companies already manufactured Dill’s products. In fact, they also took the equipment and customer list, and used the familiar product name for the company. The company is now working out of a temporary facility in Roxboro, but will move permanently to neighboring county of Granville.
According to the Danville Register & Bee, Ron Bunch, Danville’s economic development director, said “our real estate wasn’t a good fit for them… I think the Lenox (china plant) building was a better fit based on their project needs.”