Unified Front Gives Halifax County an Edge in Business Recruitment
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When PCB Piezotronics chose Halifax County as the site of its new manufacturing facility in 2004‚ one factor stood out in the mind of company Co-president Dave Hore. “The people of North Carolina just went out of their way to make us feel so wanted and important‚” he says. “They really sold us on the area.”
PCB Piezotronics‚ which produces sensors for the automotive and aerospace industries‚ is a prime example of why Halifax County and the Roanoke Valley are experiencing an economic revival. Once dependent on the textile industry and agriculture‚ the region is breathing new life – thanks to synergy between the private and public sectors.
Such teamwork is “the grease and glue that get things done‚” says Ronald D. Baker‚ executive director of the Halifax County Economic Development Commission. Brenda Blackburn‚ president of the Roanoke Valley Chamber of Commerce‚ says her office has worked tirelessly with Baker’s EDC team‚ North Carolina’s Northeast Partnership Inc.‚ the Halifax County Tourism Development Authority‚ the city of Roanoke Rapids and other municipalities to bring about several recent economic-development projects.
“Everybody has a different piece of the puzzle‚” Blackburn says. “We each use our individual talents to make things happen.”
One catalyst for growth is Halifax County Business Horizons‚ a nonprofit organization comprising 134 civic and business leaders. Its mission is “to provide funding for such economic-development projects as may be deemed beneficial to the citizens of Halifax County.”
PCB Piezotronics benefited from that funding when expanding to North Carolina. A few years ago‚ company executives realized that “we needed to open a second facility in New York or elsewhere‚ and we weren’t even thinking of elsewhere‚” Hore says. However‚ an exchange of business cards at an industry trade show early in 2004 began a dialogue between PCB and North Carolina interests.
Hore was impressed when two representatives of the Northeast Partnership‚ Mike and Cathy Scott‚ dropped by PCB’s headquarters near Buffalo long before New York officials paid a visit. He was even more impressed to answer his phone one day and find himself engaged in a 40-minute chat with none other than North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley. “I was quite shocked‚ because usually you don’t hear from a governor until after a final decision has been made.”
After what Hore says was a long yet flawless negotiating process‚ PCB Piezotronics announced plans to move into a 50‚000-square-foot building in the Halifax Industrial Center. The company relocated more than 30 employees from its western New York offices and soon hired and trained another 30 workers to get the manufacturing facility operating. PCB vowed to have 100 employees onsite by the end of 2006 and upward of 500 within a decade.
“In economic terms‚ it’s a home run with the bases loaded‚” Baker says.
Another firm poised to make an impact in Halifax County is Airboss. The Ontario‚ Canada-based rubber compounds company is preparing to take over more than 100‚000 square feet of vacant space in the community of Scotland Neck. Airboss is investing about $10 million in machinery and creating at least 85 jobs.
The Halifax EDC’s Baker says that one other manufacturing company and three truck terminals also are on the way to the county‚ and that plans are under way to expand the county’s business/industrial park by 200 acres.
Meanwhile‚ some existing businesses are responding to growing pains. For example‚ Reser’s Fine Foods is doubling the size of its East Coast distribution center; Weldon Steel recently added 21‚000 square feet of production space‚ creating 12 to 15 more jobs. “I felt that our customers were needing more out of us‚” says Kris Neal‚ president of Weldon Steel‚ which does structural framing for large buildings. “We were getting really congested and wanted to spread out a little bit.”
Cathy Scott‚ who writes grants for the Northeast Partnership‚ says the area is a hotspot for businesses looking to relocate. She says a dedicated workforce‚ Interstate 95 and the overall positive business climate are tantalizing assets.
“I think the Roanoke Valley has really found itself in recent years‚” Scott says. “We’ve found new ways to market ourselves‚ and those efforts have paid off.”
Story by Edward Navarro
Photo by Brian McCord
