Anson Economic Development Corporation

Over the past 18 months, AnsonEDP has announced nine new projects in the county, creating 114 new jobs and more than $33 million in new capital investment. As we approach the end of the year, let's take a look at the current status of some of those projects: The Pee Dee Electric Cooperative HQ at Atlantic Gateway is finished and open for business. All employees from the former Wadesboro and Rockingham facilities are now in place.  The new Dunkin/T-Mobile/PNC at Anson Station was originally targeting a November opening, but delays in equipment and signage have pushed that back until early 2022. The building is finished and the PNC drive-up is operating. Both Dunkin and T-Mobile are currently hiring. This is Big Toys Direct' s busy season, so all hands are on deck at their California facility and progress has slowed somewhat on renovations at the new Wadesboro facility. There are still contractors there every day and the company expects to begin hiring in early 2022, with logis...

The 2021-2022 North Carolina budget sets aside $8 million for AnsonEDP to establish a revolving loan fund for the design and construction of speculative or "spec" industrial buildings in the county. This has been hailed as a game-changing development, but what is a spec building and why is it so important to the future of Anson County? A spec building is an industrial or warehouse space that is built by a local government, economic development agency, or private development firm for the purpose of attracting a tenant who will bring jobs and investment to the community. Some relate spec buildings to model homes, and there are definitely similarities, but the purpose of a model home is to give potential buyers an idea of the type of home they can build in that neighborhood, not necessarily to sell that particular dwelling. While it can occasionally work like that with spec buildings, far more commonly the end goal is to sell the building itself.  While spec buildings are someti...

AnsonEDP Executive Director John Marek was a featured speaker at the ACT Virtual Workforce Summit this past week. His presentation on "Redefining Rural for a Post-Pandemic Economy" was viewed by more than 100 of the nation's top workforce and economic development professionals, representing organizations from Maui to Maine.  Marek's presentation focused on how rural areas can make the most of several trends resulting from the pandemic to bolster their economic positions. Remote work, broadband expansion, restoring, and evolving priorities were noted as four trends that rural communities need to consider in their economic development strategies coming out of the pandemic.  As examples, he explained how Anson County has worked to create collaborative spaces, make education and training less expensive and more accessible, improve broadband accessibility, and promote the county's proximity to all the amenities of a major city without many of the headaches of urban liv...

The new North Carolina Budget, signed into law by Governor Roy Cooper on November 18th, includes $12 million in funding for economic development projects in Anson County, according to AnsonEDP Executive Director John Marek.  Four million dollars comes in the form of an infrastructure grant to extend sewer to the new Atlantic Gateway Logistics Park east of Lilesville. The park, whose first tenant, Pee Dee Electric Cooperative, opened last month, is positioned to take advantage of the I-73/74 Cordova exit, which is expected to open in late 2022. Atlantic Gateway is located just two miles from the future exit. The sewer extension will facilitate additional tenants and open adjacent land on the east side of the county for development. Another $8 million comes in the form of a revolving loan fund to construct speculative industrial buildings in the county. The first of those, 100 Industry Drive, will break ground in mid-2021 at the Wadesboro Industrial Park. It will be a 50,000 square f...

John and Shelby attended a ribbon-cutting this afternoon for the new NextGen Services office in Morven. NextGen is a program of Centralina Workforce Development that provides occupational and vocational training, counseling, and information to youth aged 16 to 24.