Ashley Sets up in Tar Heel State

April 20, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Upholstery on April 21, 2012 Ashley Furniture unveiled its plans for a North Carolina manufacturing and distribution at a news conference on the eve of High Point Furniture Market.

At the gathering in High Point, local and state development officials, N.C. Senator Richard Burr discussed the impact of the $80 million project, which should create 550 jobs in North Carolina's Piedmont over the next five years.

A state Job Development Investment Grant and a One North Carolina Fund award helped bring the Ashley plans to fruition.

Phase I calls for a 418,000-square-foot distribution center that should be in operation by October or November; another 507,000-square feet, also for distribution; and a 408,000-square-foot upholstery manufacturing facility. The site has potential for a total build-out of 3.2 million square feet.

Ashley CEO Todd Wanek noted that the North Carolina project is just one investment Ashley is making in its U.S. operations: "Every one of our facilities is being re-birthed."

Chairman Ron Wanek said the State of North Carolina, and local developers had been very supportive.

"Generating a facility like this takes for years to get up to speed," he said. "It's a huge, huge risk and a huge, huge undertaking, and we appreciate the help we're getting."

Senator Burr credited the N.C. Department of Commerce, in particular, and Governor Beverly Perdue for the leadership in economic development that brought about a project such as Ashley's.

Ashley "is putting a tremendous amount of trust in North Carolina and Davie County, and more important, the people of North Carolina," Burr said. "I don't know of anyone who wakes up every morning and bets on the future being better than yesterday than Ron and Todd Wanek."
 
To help facilitate this expansion, the company has been awarded a grant of up to $825,000 from the state€™s One North Carolina Fund.  This fund assists the state in industry recruitment and expansion deemed by the governor to be vital to a healthy and growing state economy.  One North Carolina Fund grants require a local match, and this grant is contingent upon approval of local incentives.
 
In addition, the state Economic Investment Committee voted to award a Job Development Investment Grant to Ashley. JDIGs are awarded only to new and expanding businesses and industrial projects whose benefits exceed the costs to the state and which would not be undertaken in North Carolina without the grant.
 
Under the terms of the JDIG, the company is eligible to receive a grant equal to 60 percent of the state personal income withholding taxes derived from the creation of new jobs for each of the 10 years in which the company meets annual performance targets.  If Ashley Furniture meets the targets called for under the agreement and sustains them for 10 years, the JDIG could yield as much as $3.19 million in maximum benefits for the company.
 
Other partners who assisted with this announcement include: The N.C. Department of Commerce, N.C. Department of Transportation, N.C. Department of Revenue, N.C. Community Colleges, Davie County, Davie County Economic Development Commission Inc., N.C. Rural Economic Development Center, Golden LEAF Foundation, and Duke Energy. R.J. Reynolds gifted 200 acres for the project.