Economic Development

The company expects to complete both phases by 2023. Once both facilities reach production capacity, Triangle expects to produce six million tires annually. The project is estimated to contribute more than $2.4 billion to North Carolina’s economy.

The project is estimated to contribute more than $2.4 billion to North Carolina’s economy. As part of the agreement with Triangle Tire, Edgecombe County will use a $10 million grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation to build a state-of-theart advanced manufacturing training center at Kingsboro for the purpose of helping provide a strong workforce for the company that will be owned and operated by Edgecombe Community College.

In addition to Triangle Tire, New York-based Corning, Inc., a world leading innovator in material science, also will be bringing additional jobs and investment to Edgecombe County. Corning announced last year plans to bring a total of 428 jobs and $275 million in investment over three years to North Carolina.

The company plans to invest $86 million in the county to build a stateof-the-art global distribution center and create about 150 new jobs, said Norris Tolson, CEO and president of the Carolinas Gateway Partnership. The new warehouse facility will be located between Rocky Mount and Tarboro at the intersection of Dunbar Road and U.S. 64 Alt.

Eric S. Musser, executive vice president of Corning Techologies and International, said the jobs will provide future support for the company’s new pharmeceutical glass packaging product, Valor Glass, and potential growth from other Corning businesses in North Carolina and elsewhere.

The average wage at the Edgecombe County facility will be $33,771, which is slightly more than the county’s average of $32,000. Musser said the expectation is for the distribution center to be built and full operational by the second half of 2019.

“The site itself had to be suitable for the business purpose we were looking for, but what also appealed to us about Edgecombe County is the availability of a highly skilled workforce,” Musser said. “We believe with confidence we can develop and attract the talent that we need to operate. We’re also happy with the infrastructure that’s available, the support of the business environment and overall very good quality of living. When we put that altogether, it really made for a compelling case in Edgecombe County.”

CSX plans to build a new intermodal transportation facility in Edgecombe County to help industry get products to customers and spur growth in the region.T he new facility will be built across from N.C. Wesleyan College on land already purchased by CSX.

The newly envisioned 330-acre site will be a traditional intermodal site allowing trucks to bring cargo containers to a rail yard where the containers will be transferred to trains for transport. The facility will serve many industries with efficient access to rail, said Carolinas Gateway Partnership CEO and President Norris Tolson.

“Getting products to the customer is paramount to any business’s success,” Tolson said. “We at the Carolinas Gateway Partnership are pleased that the CCX intermodal site will provide another vital link in the logistics solutions offered for our customer base in the Twin Counties and all of Eastern North Carolina. Edgecombe and Nash counties will now truly be a gateway to markets throughout the eastern part of the U.S.”

Gov. Roy Cooper speaks after announcing that Corning, Inc. will be building a global distribution center in Edgecombe County at Keihin Auditorium at Edgecombe Community College in Tarboro.

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