Category Archives: Show on PTP

1/4/22 Young Door Company, a new manufacturing firm will open in Pilot Mountain. The company will eventually invest more than $3 million and create up to 40 jobs. The company will produce interior doors that will be sold at home improvement stores and other retailers where millwork is sold.
“Tom [Brown] and I are very excited to be starting our manufacturing business in Pilot Mountain. It is a great location for the customers we are targeting and we are looking forward to being a part of the community,” co-founder Mark Stukenborg said.
Stukenborg said both he and Brown grew up in small towns, and they were looking for a smaller community where a strong work ethic is common among its residents, and he said they needed a building large enough and designed in a way that would allow them to turn it into a manufacturing facility.
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LT Apparel Group, a leading manufacturer of childrenswear apparel is expanding operations in North Carolina with an investment of at least $57 million in Greensboro. The company’s project will add a minimum of 116 new jobs to the community and will help increase industrial capacity at the Reedy Fork Corporate Park.
The company’s new jobs will yield an average salary of $50,235, in line with Guilford County’s average annual wage. Once the project’s new jobs are in place, the local region will benefit from a more than $4 million payroll impact in the community, each and every year.
“Our operations here in Greensboro have come full circle,” said Richard Sutton, CEO, LT Apparel Group. “From designing products in Revolution Mill to warehousing and distributing them from Brown Summit, LT Apparel is part of the fabric of this community, and we’re committed to remain so. After a long search for our new home, it became clear that Greensboro was the right choice for us. We appreciate the support we’ve received from all the state and local partners, and we look forward to growing our company in North Carolina.”
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Toyota will build its first North American battery manufacturing plant for a new generation of vehicles in North Carolina, creating at least 1,750 jobs. Toyota will invest $1.29 billion at the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite.

The new plant in Randolph County will initially produce batteries for Toyota’s hybrid electric vehicles, and intends to produce batteries for battery electric vehicles long term.
“The future of mobility is electrification and the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite is the ideal location to make that future a reality,” said Ted Ogawa, CEO of Toyota Motor North America. “North Carolina offers the right conditions for this investment, including the infrastructure, high-quality education system, access to a diverse and skilled workforce, and a welcoming environment for doing business. Today marks the beginning of a mutually beneficial partnership with the Tar Heel state as we embark on our journey to achieve carbon neutrality and provide mobility for all.”
Salaries for the new jobs at the battery plant will vary by position, but will average $62,234, increasing the regional payroll by more than $100 million every year. Randolph County’s overall average annual wage is currently $37,865.
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Palltronics, the maker of the world’s first fully-trackable shipping pallet, has chosen Mocksville for its first manufacturing facility. The highly-anticipated pallets are already sold out for the first three years of production. The Michigan-based company has leased a new 253,000-square-foot industrial building in the SouthPoint Business Park on US 601 North and plans to invest more than $40 million in equipment and upfitting to create a world-class advanced manufacturing facility capable of producing more than four million pallets annually. Palltronics expects to create 200 new jobs by the time the plant opens during the third quarter of 2022.
The Palltronics shipping pallet is an advanced pallet embedded with electronics that offers unprecedented track and trace capabilities. Using technology much like the GPS on a smartphone, each pallet can be traced in “real-time” virtually anywhere. This pallet also includes temperature and humidity sensors and an accelerometer that helps clients ensure that their perishable products arrive at their destination at peak quality. The accelerometer indicates any unusual disruption that products may have experienced.
According to Palltronics President Marty DiFiore, the company began the search for the ideal location to begin production in May 2021. It was looking for a location on the East Coast and considered North Carolina desirable because of its proximity to the ports for inbound freight, its logistical location and access to trucking companies for shipping finished pallets, and a highly-trained workforce well-versed in wood products because of the furniture industry. DiFiore continued, “We found the perfect building, a talented workforce, and the ideal location logistically. We were thrilled with the welcome that we received from the community and the landlord and are really excited to begin producing and manufacturing our state-of-the-art pallets in Mocksville.”
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The Carolina Core is one step closer to adding another interstate shield to the region, thanks to language included in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill signed by President Joe Biden on Monday. Business and civic leaders within the region are partnering with local, state and federal officials to designate part of Highway U.S. 421 as a future interstate in an effort to further spur economic growth and make the region even more competitive on a global stage.

“This is an important step in a lengthy process to secure a game-changing future interstate designation for Highway 421 in the Carolina Core, which will not only increase our economic competitiveness, but will further enhance safety and mobility throughout the region,” said Michael Fox, President of Piedmont Triad Partnership. “This has been a true collaborative effort with our partners from the local, state and federal levels all sharing in the vision for Future I-685 to better connect the region’s plentiful assets, including our megasites, labor markets and colleges and universities, among others. We look forward to continuing our work together to push this important initiative across the finish line.”

Instrumental to the inclusion of this language in the federal infrastructure legislation were U.S. Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis. This legislation marks important progress, listing U.S. 421 from the interchange with Interstate Route 85 in Greensboro to the interchange with Interstate Route 95 in Dunn as a “High Priority Corridor.” This measure will allow the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to request a future interstate designation through the Federal Highway Administration and the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. If approved, NCDOT will then place signs notifying the public that I-685 is a future interstate corridor.

“One of the most important assets in Randolph County and the Carolina Core is our strong transportation network,” said Kevin Franklin, President of Randolph County Economic Development Corporation. “The future designation of U.S. Highway 421 as I-685 will further solidify the county and region as a destination for any business reliant on transportation and logistics. Randolph County is the proud home of the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite which is located on U.S. Highway 421. An upgrade to future I-685 status makes the site more marketable in the short term, and will better serve an end user for years into the future. Interstate access on the eastern side of Randolph County will result in additional development in the community which, in turn, will help the entire community to thrive.”

The future interstate designation is part of the Piedmont Triad Partnership’s long-term strategic vision for the Carolina Core. Over the last three years, local partners have been collectively rallying behind the future interstate designation for Highway 421, which will further enhance the region’s robust transportation network, while providing the vital connection of I-95 with I-40 and I-85. This designation will provide direct connections between large population centers and improve access to Fort Bragg, aiding in national defense and during natural disasters.

“Future I-685 here in central North Carolina is another reminder that we are ‘the good roads state,’” said C. Michael Smith, President of Chatham Economic Development Corporation. “We appreciate all of the support on this effort here in the Carolina Core. We look forward to continuing to build on this collaboration with our neighboring communities.”

Seven counties along the route have unanimously passed resolutions of support endorsing Future I-685. The region’s Metropolitan and Rural Planning Organizations have also given the green light in support of the future interstate designation.

“A critical component in Sanford and Lee County’s recent economic development success has been our highly strategic location at the epicenter of an abundant and skilled labor shed encompassing both the Carolina Core and RTP region,” said Jimmy Randolph, CEO of Sanford Area Growth Alliance. “With the designation of the U.S. Highway 421 corridor as a high priority corridor in the federal infrastructure bill, our long-standing goal of interstate connectivity with both I-85 and I-95 via I-685 is one step closer to reality, further strengthening our competitiveness for both talent and supply chain partners seeking convenient access to the megasites of the Carolina Core.”