Economic Development Commission
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Location: |
Visit the EDC's Website
Director: Tom Johnson(email)
Marketing Director: Kerry Giles (email)
Economic Development Specialist: Mary Taylor (email)
Office Assistant: Brenda Watson(email)
Mission Statement: It is the mission of the Rutherford County Economic Development Commission to promote & market Rutherford County to the world; creating, retaining, & reinvesting dollars to provide a better quality of life for the residents.
Latest EDC Efforts
First Choice Armor Hosts Open House at Spindale Facility
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Officials from the Town of Spindale take a tour of the First Choice Armor plant during the Open House
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October 3, 2006 - Spindale, NC – First Choice Armor held an open house on Friday, September 29th to celebrate their new operation in Spindale, North Carolina. In March 2006, the company announced it would relocate the company from Brockton, MA to Spindale, NC and create 398 jobs over the next three years. The open house was located at their new facility, the former Stonecutter #2 facility off of Yelton Street in Spindale. To date, First Choice Armor has invested over one million dollars in this new facility.
“We are thrilled and proud to be here. Everyone from local, county, and state levels has been extremely supportive in welcoming First Choice Armor to Spindale,” stated Karen Herman, President.
First Choice Armor manufactures protective body armor for the military and law enforcement. They were the first company in the U.S. to manufacture the lightest combo ballistic/stab-shank resistant vest, setting a new standard in the industry for quality, durability and design. For more company information, go to www.firstchoicearmor.com.
Since their announcement in March, First Choice has hired approximately one hundred employees, which is in line with their initial projections. Just a week ago, they held an additional job fair to take applications for new jobs they will be creating. For more information on available jobs, please contact Human Resources Manager, Crystal Cook at ccook@firstchoicearmor.com.
Rutherford County Economic Developer, Tom Johnson stated at the open house that, “We are very happy to welcome First Choice Armor to Rutherford County. This was truly a team effort involving not only Rutherford County and the Town of Spindale, but also there was tremendous support from the State of North Carolina, the Rural Center, Duke Energy, AdvantageWest and Isothermal Planning and Development Commission.”
First Choice Armor first heard about Rutherford County through 3Tex who is one of their suppliers. 3Tex has been located in Rutherford County for the past five years. First Choice does a lot of work with 3Tex and after hearing about Rutherford County, they went online to the EDC website (www.rutherfordncedc.com) and looked at the available sites and buildings. They were targeting North Carolina because of the strong textile workforce. Most of the positions they will be hiring will be cut and sew operators.
The Economic Development Commission encourages all local companies to list their business and services on www.rutherfordinfo.com. This is the website the EDC utilizes to help new businesses find local providers to meet their needs.
GOV. EASLEY ATTENDS GROUNDBREAKING FOR STATE’S NEW DATA CENTER IN RUTHERFORD COUNTY
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L to R: Chuck Hill (County Commission Chairman), State Senator Walter Dalton , Governor Mike Easley, NC Rep. Bob England, Debora Antley (State ITS Office), Bill Willis (Deputy State CIO), George Bakolia (State CIO), and Tom Johnson (Rutherford County Economic Developer)
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September 21, 2006 - Forest City – Governor Mike Easley was present in Rutherford County today to participate in the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the new State Data Center located in the Rutherford 74 Corporate Center. The new 53,000 square foot facility will give the State the capability to back up all critical state applications and greatly reduce recovery times.
Senator Walter Dalton who spoke at the event stated, “It is a great day. It is more than just a $25 million dollar investment and 50 jobs. It is the message that it sends to the business community, a message that Rutherford County is ready to compete in the technology age.”
Students from Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy and East Rutherford High School were in attendance. Principals from both schools saw this as an opportunity for students to witness first hand the type of jobs that will make them want to stay in Rutherford County.
Representative Bobby England was also a speaker at the event and shared that, “It was a wonderful thing that has happened today. The good part is that the potential impact this will have is still unknown. Good investment now will create more training opportunities and open up excellent jobs in the future.”
The North Carolina General Assembly approved $24.8 million for the new data center in the current budget. The Governor’s Office also stated that the center will bring $3 million investment to the state and will provide 30 to 50 new jobs to Rutherford County. The County has also teamed with Isothermal Community College to create specialized training for the employees at the new Data Center.
County Commissioner Chairman Chuck Hill stated that, “This is the start of a new era for Rutherford County. The infrastructure that will be acquired for this Data Center will open a whole new horizon that we have been unable to tap into before now. The job creation this brings is phenomenal.”
The fiber infrastructure that is needed to make the Data Center operational will allow Rutherford County to compete for higher technology based companies. It will allow Rutherford County to play against the larger metropolitan areas. e-Rutherford, a sub committee of the Economic Development Commission, has worked for four years with the e-NC Authority to layout technology needs and infrastructure for the county. This project brings those efforts to fruition.
Site work has already begun at the Rutherford 74 Corporate Center and construction will begin immediately. The Data Center is targeted to be operational by January 2008. All jobs will be posted through the Office of State Personnel (www.ops.state.nc.us/jobs). It is projected that jobs will be posted to the site around September 2007.
Rutherford County Economic Developer, Tom Johnson noted that, “Today’s groundbreaking brings about the culmination of several months of hard work by many people throughout the community and state. The County Commissioners, County Manager John Condrey, the EDC Board and Staff, and Retired Executive Director Jim Lancaster have all played major roles through out this process and we look forward to the future growth and development in the Rutherford 74 Corporate Center. This is the flagship for quality development that Rutherford County can be very proud of.”
The State Office for Information Technology chose the site based strongly on the climate of Rutherford County and the Isothermal Belt which protects the area. The Rutherford County Economic Development Commission has announced 532 new jobs and $38.8 million in investment dollars in the past year. For more information on Rutherford County’s economic development efforts, please go to www.rutherfordncedc.com.
Other EDC Involvements
eRutherford
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eRutherford is a sub-committee of the Economic Development Commission. It is made up of individuals from a variety of sectors within the county. During 2003, eRutherford was awarded $52,000 in grant funds from the Rural Internet Access Authority. These funds have provided free, high-speed, public Internet access sites; the creation of a Rutherford County e-government website; public awareness for Internet use; and research on connectivity issues for the county. Currently, there are seventeen Public Access Sites in the county, which makes Rutherford County No. 1 in the state for public access in rural counties (download below). Also, the Department of Transportation is hanging signs below all the current “Welcome to Rutherford County” signs that state that Rutherford County is “A North Carolina Certified E-Community.” This will help to promote our county as technologically advanced. Currently, the key objective of this group is to bring affordable, county-wide, high-speed Internet access. This applies to T1 lines for industry, as well as, high-speed connections for residential use. This group is working in conjunction with the Education Research Consortium, which is the organization that has partnered with Congressman Charles Taylor to bring broadband to Western North Carolina. For more information, please visit erutherford.org.
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Download: Public Access Sites |
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