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employment
It was a good -- no -- an outstanding week for economic development and job creation news in Columbus County.
Recently, it seemed that any news about jobs being created was met by the bad news that another plant was closing.
In just the past few days, however, officials confirmed the creation of nearly 300 jobs at three plants -- 200 jobs at the former Penn Ventilation plant at Tabor City by new company Hart and Cooley, 38 by Idaho Timber at Chadbourn, and now 40 new jobs at Ever Fresh, a soybean processing company from South Korea that is buying the Committee of 100 shell building and hopes to expand soon after beginning operations.
Congratulations are in order to the people who made this happen -- and there are many. Money for a railroad spur had to be found by the legislative delegation and incentives had to be approved by the county commissioners and Town of Tabor City. The volunteers at the Columbus County Committee of 100 and Jim Hinkle at Columbus County Economic Development are just a few of the players who worked overtime to make these deals happen.
The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services was instrumental in steering the soybean processing plant here. Having a port nearby was crucial for the soybean plant, and, it’s important to remember that the Committee of 100 shell building, which sat empty for some time, was the deal clincher; it served its purpose.
Coupled with the 400-plus jobs the new prison will create -- that’s more than 600 new jobs for those who are counting -- the employment situation in Columbus County appears to be on a long-awaited upswing, thanks to the hard work of many.
These deals don’t just fall out of thin air. Economic development officials and agencies that have borne the brunt of some recent criticism should take solace in these announcements and keep up the good work.