Manufacturer eyes North Carolina for 500-job, $100M investment

Posted on by Michael Randle

A window and door manufacturer is planning an investment that could create hundreds of jobs in a small Johnston County town, according to sources with knowledge of the plans.

On Thursday, the company is expected to announce a roughly $100 million investment that will create around 500 jobs in the Town of Selma, according to multiple sources. The average wages for these jobs will be above $50,000, the sources say — well above the town’s median household income of $29,325, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

While most sources who spoke to the Triangle Business Journal declined to name the company linked to the investment, one source said the company is New York-based Crystal Window and Door Systems. The company was founded in 1990 and has five major production facilities across the country.

“At this moment all these discussions are at early stages and very preliminary,” Steve Chen, CEO of Crystal Window and Door Systems, said in an email Wednesday when asked about the potential project.

In April, Crystal Window and Door Systems announced a $121 million investment to construct an advanced manufacturing facility and regional corporate headquarters in Texas — a move expected to create 504 jobs.

Triangle Business Journal

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Deere considering expanded Triad operations with new Forsyth County, N.C. site

Posted on by Michael Randle

John Deere evidently likes the Triad.

The company was identified Thursday as the entity considering a $73 million, 151-worker manufacturing facility in Forsyth County.

County commissioners approved a package of economic-development incentives worth up to $944,006 over five years for John Deere Kernersville LLC. The incentives are in return for the $47 million investment in real estate and $23 million in machinery over five years and the creation of at least 151 new full-time equivalent jobs with an average annual wage of at least $64,362.

The payments, conditioned on making the investment and the jobs, would amount to no more than 50% of the property taxes generated by the project.

The project would continue Deere’s expansion in the Triad. Last year, it announced a joint venture with Germany’s Kreisel Electric to build battery packs for electrified heavy equipment.

It already had an excavator factory in Kernersville, having opened it in 1988 with Hitachi and taking it over completely after the joint venture ended in 2021. The facility ranked as the Triad’s 18th largest manufacturing facility with about 850 employees, as of this past fall, according to TBJ research.

Triad Business Journal

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‘We have to win Oracle over.’ A huge upside for Nashville tech is in sight

Posted on by Michael Randle

Chris Cochran believes Oracle Corp.’s world headquarters relocation will generate a critical ingredient for turning Nashville into a major technology hub.

But only if Nashville can actually keep Oracle’s headquarters.

Cochran knows Oracle: He worked there for about six years, leading the Southeast region of sales managers for the company’s large corporate and institutional clients. Cochran also knows tech: He is co-founder and CEO of Brentwood-based FreightWise LLC, a shipping software company that has topped the Business Journal’s ranking of fastest-growing private companies three years in a row.

The combo of those vantage points gives Cochran perspective on the potential impact of Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison’s pronouncement on April 23 that Nashville will become the company’s global headquarters. Ellison co-founded the software business in Silicon Valley in the late 1970s. Months into the Covid-19 pandemic, Oracle changed its headquarters to Austin.

Nashville Business Journal

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Geartek expanding operations in Alcorn County, Miss.

Posted on by Michael Randle

Hydraulic gear pump and motor manufacturer Geartek is expanding its operations in Corinth. The project is a $3.8 million investment that will create two new jobs.

A division of Hydraulic Analysis, Inc., Geartek’s products are used in a variety of industries, including forestry, energy, site clearing and mining. The company has long-established local ties to Corinth and is expanding its existing manufacturing facility by approximately 8,500 square feet to accommodate new manufacturing equipment for added production capacity.

The Mississippi Development Authority is providing assistance through the Mississippi Flexible Tax Incentive, or MFLEX, program. Additional support is being provided by Alcorn County and the city of Corinth.

Mississippi Development Authority

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Meta building $800 million Montgomery data center, creating 100 jobs

Posted on by Michael Randle

Tech conglomerate Meta will build an $800 million, 715,000-square-foot data center in Montgomery, creating 100 jobs.

The center will be built off Interstate 65 across from Hyundai’s automotive assembly plant.

Gov. Kay Ivey announced the project Thursday at Montgomery Whitewater. The site is already being cleared for construction and is expected to be completed by the end of 2026.

More than 1,000 construction workers are expected to be onsite at the peak of construction, according to the company.

California-based Meta, the parent company of Facebook, opened its first Alabama data center campus in Huntsville in 2021, which now employs about 300 people. The company has invested a total of $1.5 billion into the state.

AL.com

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Gov. Andy Beshear on how the Kentucky Derby fuels economic development

Posted on by Michael Randle

Kentucky Derby 150 is a big day for racing fans, horse trainers and of course, bettors — but it’s also a big day for economic development.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and his wife Britainy spent a good portion of their Derby day suite-hopping across Churchill Downs.

The two-term governor visited the suites of University of Louisville, Lexington developer Patrick Madden and Louisville-based LDG Development, where former Baltimore Ravens star linebacker Ray Lewis was taking in the races, among others.

Beshear said Derby week is a chance for state officials to develop relationships with business executives.

“We have an economic development group that’s here today. Different folks who have announced big locations or expansions over the last year and some which we are trying to finalize the deal. It’s an opportunity to not only show them a good time but to sit and have some time to talk outside of a boardroom and they get to know who they are going to be doing business with and where,” Beshear said in an interview with Business First outside one of the suites.

Louisville Business First

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CoStar to make $1.6B tech-focused acquisition

Posted on by Michael Randle

CoStar Group Inc. has agreed to acquire Matterport Inc., a spatial data company, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $1.6 billion, its biggest acquisition ever.

The real estate data giant (NASDAQ: CSGP) will pay $5.50 a share — $2.75 in cash and $2.75 in stock — for each share of Matterport, according to Monday’s announcement.

Founded in 2011, Sunnyvale, California-based Matterport (NASDAQ: MTTR) pioneered the development of a 3D capture technology that creates dimensionally accurate and photorealistic virtual tours of properties.

“The world has changed and today a Matterport is the new open house or property tour,” CoStar CEO Andy Florance said in the statement. “People now select their next home, apartment, office, store, hotel or warehouse on their mobile device often without ever visiting the property.”

In early trading Monday, Matterport shares surged 180% to $4.84, and CoStar’s stock was up 2.1% to $86.05.

CoStar has been in acquisition mode in recent years, looking to up its residential real estate market share and spend cash on hand.

Washington Business Journal

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Scottsdale-based StandardAero begins $33M expansion in Georgia

Posted on by Michael Randle

Scottsdale-based aircraft maintenance company StandardAero has started a $33 million expansion in Augusta, Georgia.

The project at Augusta Regional Airport was announced by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. It will add a new hangar and engine shop next to the airport, and is expected to create 90 jobs. It’s projected to be finished in 2025.

“The new facility will add over 60% of new space to our existing footprint,” Chris Bodine, vice president and general manager of StandardAero’s Augusta facility, said in an announcement. That amounts to about 80,500 square feet.

Phoenix Business Journal

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Groundbreaking held for new US Soccer national training center, headquarters in Georgia

Posted on by Michael Randle

FAYETTE COUNTY, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – U.S. Soccer hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Monday for its brand-new National Training Center and Headquarters in Georgia.

“The center of the world of soccer is in Atlanta, Georgia, and as years go on that will only become truer and truer, not only for our city but the nation as well,” said Arthur Blank, owner of Atlanta United and the Atlanta Falcons.

The training center is named in Blank’s honor.

The location at Trilith in Fayette County was selected last year. Fayette County is 27 miles from Atlanta and 20 miles from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. U.S. Soccer leaders are hoping the great Georgia climate and major airport will encourage people from everywhere to come train year-round.

Atlanta News First

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