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- June 2004 -
Chamber’s Annual Trip to Raleigh Yields Positive
Results
(Shelby,
NC) – Members of the Cleveland County business
community took advantage of an opportunity to
discuss issues affecting Cleveland County during the
Chamber’s annual Legislative Trip to Raleigh in
June.
Various
meetings were scheduled for the contingency from the
county to discuss economic development initiatives,
transportation issues, and other state and local
policies. Participants met with North Carolina
Representatives Debbie Clary, Dr. Bob England, and
Tim Moore; Senator Walter Dalton; Senate President
Pro-Tem Marc Basnight; House Speaker Richard Morgan;
Department of Commerce Secretary Jim Fain; Kevin
Howell from Governor Mike Easley’s office; and
Department of Transportation Secretary Lyndo
Tippett; among others.
Representative Tim Moore (Cleveland) believes more
can be done from the state level to address state
and local economic development incentives. “The
best way to address the industrial economic
development issue is to reduce the corporate income
tax,” Moore said.
Dr. Bob
England (Cleveland/Rutherford) agrees that local
incentives are important, but says we must not
forget that our current economic situation is the
result of national and international policies over
which the state legislature has little control.
“The loss of textiles in the magnitude that we have
experienced is an unfortunate result of these
policies. Our challenge is certainly a difficult
one,” England said. “It will be a slow turnaround,
but we are still optimistic that our local citizens
will be able to make a difference and have an impact
in the economic recovery of our area.”
Representative Debbie Clary also took time to meet
with the group while in the midst of state budget
discussions. Cleveland County Chamber Board
Chairman David Faunce was among the participants,
and said the meetings netted positive results for
Cleveland County’s economic future.
“We
received such a warm reception from these top state
officials, I was extremely pleased,” said Faunce.
“This is a group of highly motivated individuals who
are serious about making Cleveland County a better
place to live and work. We will receive much
assistance from these dignitaries as we move forward
with new economic development initiatives.”
The most
difficult aspect of the Chamber's governmental
action program is addressing the "tough"
issues--those that have varying effects on
businesses and the community. “The Chamber has a
fair and sound system of determining its legislative
positions and their local impact,” said Stuart
Gilbert, Chamber President. “The visits to Raleigh
provide our community with important opportunities
to make certain the needs and concerns of Cleveland
County are addressed to our satisfaction.”
- June 2004 -
“Retail Trends 2004” Conference Yields Positive
Results for Cleveland County
(Shelby,
NC) – An important function of the Chamber is to
educate area citizens on the importance of buying
locally. “The Buck Stops Here… Buy Locally” program
was developed in 2001 and designed to help market
the importance of buying goods and services in
Cleveland County to both improve our retail shopping
options and grow the local economy.
As part
of this continuing effort, economic development
officials recently attended the International
Council of Shopping Centers annual conference,
“Retail Trends 2004.” The event was held in Nevada,
and Scott Darnell, the Chamber’s Senior Vice
President for Economic Development, was among
approximately 100,000 of the top developers and
retailers around the world who attended.
“Our
participation in this event provided Cleveland
County with a wonderful opportunity to discuss
upcoming trends and opportunities in the retail
industry,” said Darnell of the event. “Cleveland
County has a thorough retail base, but it is one
that we can continue to build upon to attract a
diversified mix of retailers.
“Our
cities have done an excellent job of developing the
uptown/downtown areas and we see a wonderful
opportunity to attract new businesses to our
county,” Darnell continued. “We have many vacant
retail buildings that need to be filled which will
add to our tax base and offer new employment options
for our citizens.”
Chamber
President Stuart Gilbert also believes that the
buy-local initiative is the first step to attracting
a broader retail base for the community. “Our
Chamber membership is made up of many retailers and
restaurants in the county,” said Gilbert. “If we
are doing our job as an organization to grow
Cleveland County, we must have an economic
development approach that reaches all corners of our
community and touches every citizen, and growing the
local buying opportunities is a necessary strategy
for achieving that objective.”
Darnell
agrees, but says that economic development staff
initially delayed a strong push into retail sector
strategies until county unemployment levels had
dropped below double-digits. “Our strategy for
Cleveland County is a comprehensive approach to grow
the community in many areas,” said Darnell. “We
didn’t want to focus too heavily on the retail
sector until some of the manufacturing jobs were
recovered. Now is the time to implement a
formalized retail strategy, and we believe it will
be of tremendous value to the future quality of life
of our community.”
Each
year, retail shopping figures show that Cleveland
County is losing sales tax revenues and local sales
to neighboring counties. “This trend must be
addressed if we want to strengthen retail in
Cleveland County,” Darnell said. “It’s sort of the
‘if we build it, they will come’ philosophy. We
have to build the buying power in order to attract
the specific retail stores and restaurants we want.
And to do that, we must shop locally.”
Positive
results from the Chamber’s economic development
efforts are currently coming to fruition at the
Cleveland Mall. Economic development officials have
worked closely with mall developers and the results
include a new Cinemaplex as well as commitments from
several restaurants to locate in Cleveland County.
The
Chamber’s economic development team will continue to
look closely at proactive ways of increasing
existing retail sales and to attract the targeted
new retailers that will add to the quality of life
and success of various business sectors in Cleveland
County.
For more
information on retail development efforts, call the
Chamber at (704) 487-8521.
- June 2004 -
New Company Announces Plans for Cleveland County Facility
Kings Mountain International To Create Up To 100
Jobs
(Kings
Mountain, NC) – The Economic Development department
of the Cleveland County Chamber is pleased to
announce the addition of a new company to Cleveland
County.
Kings
Mountain International, a metal processing
manufacturer, has announced plans to occupy the
former Encompass/ABB Combustion building in Kings
Mountain. The company expects a capital investment
of $5 million and will generate approximately 100
new positions within the next few years.
“We are
excited to see Kings Mountain International become a
part of the Cleveland County industrial community,”
said Scott Darnell, Senior VP of Economic
Development for the Chamber. “Their commitment to
our county validates our strong workforce and the
pro-business attitude of our community. We look
forward to a long and prosperous relationship with
this company.”
Kings
Mountain International will begin operations at the
Kings Mountain facility in October. Applicants
interested in employment at the facility should
contact the Employment Security Commission for
information on specific positions.
The company provides metal
processing services for a variety of industrial
applications. More information on the facility
will be available in the coming months.
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