By MIKE HELM

Gov. Mike Easley is expected to announce soon that three new industries will locate in Columbus County, creating as many as 290 jobs.

Details are sketchy and sources are reluctant to talk. The county has scheduled a public hearing on Feb. 6, as required by state law, on a proposed $195,000 incentive package for the three plants. Easley is expected to announce additional state incentives.

Tabor City could get as many as 200 jobs in the next two years from a company that is moving into the vacant Penn Ventilator building. Sources said the company is affiliated with the ASC Group and will do warehousing. It wants to begin operations as soon as March.

Penn Ventilator pulled operations out of Tabor City last year.

In Chadbourn, Idaho Timber Company is expanding its manufacturing operations and is opening a woodworking plant at the former Cold Point building. The company eventually expects to employ as many as 50 people.

State Sen. R.C. Soles obtained a $75,000 grant last year for the company to build a railroad spur. Idaho Timber makes home craft lumber for shelving.

The project has hit a bump. Inspectors have determined that Idaho Timber has to install sprinklers in the building, which is approximately the size of a tobacco warehouse, according to multiple sources. Installing sprinklers in a building that size can cost more than $70,000.

Inspectors first determined that sprinklers were not necessary but the ruling was reversed, a source said. A soybean processing plant is also eyeing the shell building at Southeast Regional (Industrial) Park.