The Wilkes County and Wilkesboro governing bodies have discussed but still haven’t held public hearings on incentives proposed to land a company’s apparent significant economic investment with new jobs.
The hearing was on the agenda for the Wilkes County commissioners’ July 1 meeting but was continued with little discussion to their Aug. 3 meeting because no update was received on the company’s plans by the end of June.
County Attorney Tony Triplett said approving a continuation avoided having to publish another legal notice announcing the hearing. County officials said they were told to expect to hear from the company by the end of June.
The company’s name, details on its plans and proposed local incentives
haven’t been made public. County Manager John Yates said this information would be given in the public hearings.
Wilkesboro, Wilkes County and Wilkes Economic Development Corp. officials are referring to the matter as “Project Flow.”
The county board’s hearing on incentives was first scheduled for its May 18 meeting, but was continued to July 1 when it was learned that the company hadn’t chosen a location. For the same reason, a May 18 Wilkesboro Town Council public hearing on similar incentives for the company was canceled.
Wilkesboro Town Manager Ken Noland said in a July 1 interview that he would seek council approval of holding the town’s hearing on Aug. 2, when the council has a meeting scheduled.
Noland said that based on his conversation with a representative of the company on June 30, he believes the company is “still looking at different operational efficiencies” that affect where it makes the new investment.
“I was told that they are still working on the project. They’re looking at different options and it sounds like there are two sites (one in Wilkes and one elsewhere), but there could be more,” said Noland.
The company knows the incentives the Wilkes County and Wilkesboro governing bodies are considering and those aren’t being negotiated, he added.
Wilkesboro and Wilkes County elected officials and staff said that as requested by the company, they signed documents prohibiting them from disclosing the company’s name and what it proposed.
The Wilkes County commissioners recently considered but decided against purchasing a particular tract of undeveloped land for economic development. County officials said this property wasn’t involved in Project Flow.
Noland said incentives proposed for Project Flow also include a Jobs Development Investment Grant (JDIG) through the N.C. Department of Commerce.
There were 28 JDIGs awarded statewide in 2019 for projects resulting in 96 to 1,612 new jobs apiece and investments ranging from $1.67 million to $680 million.
A JDIG is a cash grant made directly to a new or expanding company to help offset the cost of locating or expanding a facility in the state.
The amount of a JDIG award is based on a percentage of the personal income tax withholdings associated with new jobs created by the company, economic tier designation of the host county, number of net new jobs, wages of the jobs compared to the county average wage, the level of investment and whether the industry is one of the state’s targeted industry sectors.
The 40 counties ranked annually by the commerce department as most distressed counties are designated as Tier 1, the next 40 as Tier 2 and the 20 least distressed as Tier 3. Wilkes, listed with annual average wages of $38,362, is a Tier 1 county.
JDOG funds are disbursed annually for up to 12 years following the satisfaction of performance criteria set out in grant agreements.
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July 05, 2021 at 08:04AM
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'Project Flow' incentive hearings may be in August - Wilkes Journal Patriot
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