News Articles
Ride the Rise video campaign
February 4, 2025
A new campaign aims to spread the word about economic resurgence in Randolph County to people considering a move into the region, the Randolph County Economic Development Corp. said.
The Ride the Rise campaign is a workforce-attraction initiative inviting individuals from across North Carolina and beyond to discover the exceptional career opportunities and high quality of life that Randolph County has to offer, an RCEDC press release said.
In 2012, Asheboro and Randolph County faced significant challenges, even drawing national attention through a 60 Minutes segment titled “The Death and Life of Asheboro.”
Today, despite layoffs in the area’s traditional employment sectors — including prominently the closure of Klaussner Furniture Industries in August 2023 — the county has had a string of big economic wins, including Toyota’s battery manufacturing plant under construction in liberty, the Ross Store Inc. distribution center planned for the Randleman area and the Wolfspeed semiconductor plant near Siler City.
Last April Randolph Community College announced plans to spend $8.5 million on three new projects aimed at addressing expected workforce needs driven by what RCC President and CEO Shah Ardalan described as $30 billion of investment in industrial projects within a 30-minute drive.
Kevin Franklin, president of the RCEDC, said that Randolph County is proving that it is a place of opportunity and promise.
“We want to redefine the narrative and showcase all the good happening here in the heart of North Carolina,” he said. “Randolph County has seen incredible progress over the past decade, and now is the time to invite others to join us. Whether you’re starting a career, transitioning from military service, or looking for new opportunities after a job displacement, Randolph County is a place where you can build your future.”
The Ride the Rise campaign focuses on key demographic groups to reach the workforce of the future, including:
• Community college students across North Carolina pursuing technical skills aligned with local employer needs.
• Military personnel and their families transitioning from North Carolina bases and seeking strong career prospects.
• Workers affected by large layoffs and facility closures looking for stability and growth opportunities.
Ride The Rise will include targeted advertising on social media and Google ads to direct the audience to consider Randolph County, the RCEDC news release said. The campaign will feature video content, banner ads, and promoted stories highlighting Randolph County’s thriving economy and lifestyle benefits.
As part of this process the RCEDC has launched a new “Jobs of the Future” landing page with up-to-date job information.
For more information about Ride the Rise and to view campaign materials, visit rcedc.com.
Source: Courier-Tribune
Kayser-Roth to layoff approximatley 120 employees
January 30, 2025
Kayser-RothCorp., the Greensboro-based hosiery maker, informed the North Carolina Department of Commerce on Monday that it permanently closed its manufacturing facility in Asheboro on Jan. 24, resulting in the layoff of 116 workers.
"Kayser-Roth has decided, after painful consideration, to cease operations at its Asheboro, NC facility," CEO Gianni Orsini wrote in the company's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filing.
"Ongoing cost pressures have led to a reconsideration of Kayser-Roth's facility footprint and resulted in this decision," he wrote.
A Kayser-Roth spokesperson said the company had no further comment but confirmed that in addition to its headquarters at 102 Corporate Center Blvd. in Greensboro, the company has a manufacturing plant at 724 W. Interstate Service Road in Burlington and a distribution center in Lumberton in southeast N.C.
In its WARN filing on Monday, Kayser-Roth noted its employees are not union members and do not have "bumping rights" at its other facilities. It said all employees have been notified of the closure.
The company had 550 employees as of 2022, according to a filing with the U.S. Department of Labor.
But that was before it notified North Carolina authorities in September 2023 of plans to eliminate 126 jobs at its Lumberton facility. The company blamed declining demand for what the factory produced for the job eliminations.
Dating from the early 20th century and owned since the 1970s by a string of conglomerates and holding companies, Kayser-Roth makes and markets socks, hosiery, leggings, tops, sleepwear, personal protective equipment and commercial and industrial products for filters and drains. In 1999, it was acquired by Italian textile company Golden Lady.
Among its primary brands are Hue and No-nonsense.
This is third layoff notice in the Triad in the past week. PVH Corp., formerly known as Phillips-Van Heusen Corp., notified the N.C. Department of Commerce on Jan. 23 that it is permanently closing its facility in Jonesville in Yadkin County and will lay off 317 people by the end of the year.
Olon Industries notified the Commerce Department on Jan. 24 it plans to close its facility at 67 Biesecker Road in Lexington, with the first of 53 separations starting March 28 and ending by around May 30.
Source: Triad Business Journal
Ross Distribution begins Construction
December 11, 2024
Ross Dress for Less begins construction on Randolph facility after county approves $300M building permit
In late May, the N.C. Economic Investment Committee approved a package of incentives worth up to $8.4 million for Ross. Randleman and Randolph County approved an even larger incentive package of $38.6 million over 15 years, in addition to Randolph County agreeing to transfer 30 acres of county-owned property valued at $1 million to Ross.
When Ross received approval for the incentives, it projected that the facility would be 1.7 million square-feet, about 570,000 square-feet less than the size listed on the building permit.
The site is in the I-74 Industrial Center developed by Samet Corp. It was initially described as being in Randleman, but the building permits lists the address in Sophia..
In July, Ross paid $21.24 million for approximately 336.7 acres land from Samet Corp for the facility. Samet had assembled the land and purchased it for $11.95 million. While Samet had previously announced that industrial center would be 1,600 acres, the Randolph County EDC said in May that it had worked with the company to secure additional land from surrounding property owners for the site of be 330 acres.
Ross is expected to invest a total of $450 million into the project through the end of 2026. The N.C. Department of Commerce predicated that the project would increase the state's gross domestic product by $1.4 billion and net state revenue $19.7 million, with a return on investment generating $1.61 for every state dollar invested, according to its economic-forecasting model.
The project is expected to create 852 jobs, which includes 550 full-time jobs through third-party staffing not included in the calculation for the state incentive package. The average wages for the jobs is projected to be $45,806, which is almost equivalent to Randolph County’s average salary of $45,801.
Ross Dress for Less is part of Ross Stores Inc. (Nasdaq: ROST), which is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay area. The company describes Ross Dress for Less as the largest "off-price apparel and home fashion chain" in the United States.
Ross's retail jobs in North Carolina were not included in the incentive. The retailer has eight stores in the Triad, including two locations each in Winston-Salem and Greensboro and one in High Point, Asheboro, Clemmons and Burlington respectively. Outside of the Triad, it has seven stores in the Triangle, three in the Charlotte metro area and one in Sanford.
Source: Triad Business Journal
Green Metals, Inc, Annouces New Facility in Liberty
June 10, 2024
Press Release: June 10, 2024
Contact: Kevin Franklin – kfranklin@rcedc.com, 336-686-2134
Green Metals, Inc. Announces New Facility in Liberty
Liberty, NC – Green Metals, Inc. (GMI), has announced plans to build a facility for electric vehicle battery waste handling and recycling. The operation will support Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina (TBMNC) in Liberty and will be located on the TBMNC campus. GMI will process dry battery material for offsite recycling, as well as handle and store other waste streams from TBMNC, including cardboard, plastic, and general waste, which will be compacted at the facility and sent offsite for recycling.
GMI’s projected capital investment over five years will total $19.8 million including both real property and machinery and equipment. The company will create 47 new jobs over that same five-year period. The company’s competitive wages and benefits package will offer an attractive option for job seekers.
Established in 1999, GMI is a Toyota Tsusho group company which provides customized industrial scrap/waste handling and recycling solutions; the company currently operates eight locations in the US. GMI’s detailed analysis of individual scrap generators enables the company to develop and implement tailored scrap recycling programs that ensure customers competitive pricing, prompt service, and maximum environmental protection.
“We join with our EDC team in welcoming another Toyota Tsusho project to Randolph County. Green Metals, Inc. will bring an important service to Toyota Battery in the form of a waste handling and recycling facility. The investment of almost twenty million dollars, bringing another 47 jobs to the area, will boost our economy and employment opportunities for our citizens,” said Darrell Frye, Chairman of the Randolph County Board of Commissioners. “This growth of the Megasite is made possible through the continued cooperation with Toyota, our EDC team, and our Randolph County staff. We welcome GMI and offer our assistance in any way needed.”
GMI will receive training support from the North Carolina Community College System which will be administered locally by Randolph Community College. The company has received additional support from the State in the form of a $60,000 Recycling Business Development Grant awarded by the NC Department of Environmental Quality. The grant will assist with the purchase of recycling equipment.
“At Green Metals, we are excited to bring our expertise in recycling and waste handling to North Carolina in support of the growing automotive battery industry,” said Dave Eisenacher, President, Green Metals, Inc. “We are grateful for the community’s support of this project, and we look forward to our future here in Randolph County.”
“We are excited to welcome GMI to our community,” stated Randolph County EDC president Kevin Franklin. “GMI will play a critical role in the EV battery ecosystem by ensuring safe and advanced waste processing, helping the company achieve its goal of ‘battery to battery recycling’ which benefits all of us.”
Support from the North Carolina Department of Commerce, the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, the North Carolina Community College System, Randolph Community College, and NCDEQ has been vital to FTBC’s announced investment and job creation.
The Randolph County Economic Development Corporation is a non-profit organization that works with industrial clients in the county. The EDC’s mission is to support a growing healthy economy so that local residents have diverse quality job opportunities through the attraction of new businesses to the area and the retention and expansion of existing business and industry. The EDC is a proud partner of the NC Carolina Core.
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Randolph County wins $450M Ross Dress for Less distribution center, 852 jobs
May 28, 2024
By David Hill – Reporter, Triad Business Journal
May 28, 2024
Ross Dress for Less won North Carolina economic-development incentives Tuesday for a distribution center in Randleman that would create 852 jobs over five years, and later confirmed it plans to build there.
The N.C. Economic Investment Committee approved a package of incentives worth up to $8.4 million for Ross, which wants to build a 1.7 million-square-foot distribution center at the I-74 Industrial Center developed by Greensboro’s Samet Corp.
In addition, Randleman and Randolph County approved an even larger package of incentives, offering $38.6 million over 15 years to lure Ross. The county will also convey 30 acres of county property valued at $1 million to Ross.
Ross' total expected investment was put at $450 million through the end of 2026. An economic-forecasting model used by the N.C. Department of Commerce forecasts the project will increase the state’s gross domestic product by $1.4 billion and net state revenue $19.7 million, with a return on investment generating $1.61 for every state dollar invested.
The total number of jobs of 852 includes 550 full-time jobs through third-party staffing not included in the calculation for the state incentive package. The average annual wages for the jobs would be $45,806, compared to Randolph County’s average of $45,801.
Ross Dress for Less retail jobs in the state would not be included in the incentive. Ross has eight stores in the Triad, with two locations each in Winston-Salem and Greensboro plus single stores in High Point, Asheboro, Clemmons and Burlington. Ross also has seven stores in the Triangle, three in the Charlotte metro area and one in Sanford.
The N.C. Economic Investment Committee didn't identify a site, but Randolph County Economic Development Corp. President Kevin Franklin identified it as the I-74 Industrial Center.
According to RCEDC, approximately 170 acres are under an options agreement with Samet Corp., which worked with the agency to secure more acreage for the planned 330-acre site from adjacent property owners.
The Randleman site was competing with a finalist in Laurens County, South Carolina, where a package of state and local incentive grants were also offered, according to staff of the N.C. Department of Commerce.
According to RCEDC, a deciding factor for Ross Stores was a labor analysis by consultant J.M. Mullis that found the Triad has the necessary labor market.
The RCEDC quoted Ross Stores Executive Vice President of Supply Chain Rob Kummerer:
“We are excited about the opportunity to build out a new distribution facility in North Carolina to support our growth initiatives over the long term. We value the collaboration of the many state and local leaders, including the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, Department of Commerce, and the officials in the city of Randleman and Randolph County who have been instrumental in bringing these plans to fruition.”
Ross Dress for Less is part of Ross Stores Inc., headquartered in the east San Francisco Bay area of California with 2023 revenues of $20.4 billion. It describes Ross Dress for Less as the largest off-price apparel and home fashion chain in the United States with 1,764 stores and 345 dd’s Discounts stores. In its most recent annual report, the company said it believes Ross Dress for Less can expand to 2,900 sites and dd’s Discounts to 700.
Source: Triad Business Journal