News Articles
Town of Liberty Awarded $325,000 Grant for Toyota Tsusho America, Inc. Warehouse Project
December 7, 2023
Press Release: December 7, 2023
Town of Liberty Awarded $325,000 Grant for Toyota Tsusho America, Inc. Warehouse Project
Asheboro, NC – Today, the Town of Liberty was awarded a $325,000 NC Commerce Building Reuse Grant by the North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority. The grant will assist with the renovation of an 85,314 square foot building located at 7280 Liberty Park Avenue in Liberty. The project will put the long-vacant building into productive use for the first time since its construction in 2001. Total investment in the project, including the grant funding, is projected to exceed $7 million including building renovations, upfits, and machinery and equipment.
Facilitated by the grant, Toyota Tsusho America, Inc. (TAI) will create forty-one new jobs in the project building. The facility will serve as an offsite warehouse to support Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina’s (TBMNC) nearby production of hybrid electric vehicle batteries. The renovated warehouse space will be open by 2025 when TBMNC begins production. TAI anticipates Monday through Friday operations with two shifts.
This project marks the first announced direct TBMNC supplier jobs coming to Randolph County.
“Liberty was very excited with the recent education announcement from Toyota Tsusho and humbled with the generous donation given to Teach for America for the Eastern Randolph High School mentoring program,” said Liberty Mayor Filmore York. “With the $7 million investment in upfits and equipment in the vacant warehouse facility and the commitment to create 41 new jobs in Liberty, we look forward to ongoing collaboration and partnership with this outstanding company.”
TAI is a wholly owned subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho Corporation, founded as a trading and supply-chain specialist of the Toyota Group. Headquartered in New York City, TAI has been operating in North America since 1961. It has evolved to a multi-business enterprise today that combines international trading of various industrial products including metals, machinery, chemicals, and electronics, with an expansive range of domestically targeted functions including supply-chain services, logistics, intermediate goods processing, and engineering solutions. TAI has regional offices, subsidiaries, and affiliates across North America in 78 locations and over 8000 employees, including four employees in its Greensboro office.
“Toyota Tsusho is proud to team up with the state and local community on revitalizing the Liberty Park Avenue warehouse,” said Joel Logan, TAI Senior Vice President, who oversees Sustainable Business Development. “We believe more is possible when we work together, and this collaboration is a great example of that. Toyota Tsusho appreciates the support of the town of Liberty, Randolph County, EDPNC, and NC Commerce and we are excited to grow our business in the region through this investment.”
“It has been a pleasure working with Toyota Tsusho officials, both in Japan and in the U.S., in support of this project,” stated Randolph County EDC president Kevin Franklin. “The company has an outstanding track record in both business and community engagement as evidenced by their recently announced advocacy in bringing Teach for America to Eastern Randolph High School. TAI is a great addition to our corporate community, and we look forward to a productive partnership for many years to come.”
In addition to support from the Town of Liberty, the following entities have been critical to the success of this project: North Carolina Department of Commerce, Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, North Carolina Community College System, Randolph Community College, and Randolph County.
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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