June 28, 2007

Louisburg, N.C. – Kerr-Tar Region business and community leaders broke ground today on a new shell building at the Franklin County Hub Site – a major step forward in developing the 250-acre industrial park across from Franklin County Regional Airport. Officials hope to attract as many as 21 companies and 3,000 new jobs to the site.

“This project is a great opportunity for Franklin County and our neighbors in the Kerr-Tar Region to shape a prosperous economic future for our citizens,” said Franklin County Commissioner and Committee of 100 Chairman Donald C. Lancaster.

The Franklin County Hub site is part of the Kerr-Tar Hub, a network of specialized industrial parks being developed in the Kerr-Tar Region counties of Franklin, Granville, Warren and Vance. Hub sites will offer specialized services and the highest level of per job tax credits ($12,500) available in North Carolina to companies that locate there.

“These Hub sites offer lower business costs for mid- to high-technology manufacturers, logistics and distribution companies, and their suppliers and vendors who want to locate within the innovation-rich Research Triangle Region of North Carolina, home of The Research Triangle Park,” said Vance County Commissioner Danny Wright, chairman of Kerr-Tar Regional Economic Development Corporation, which owns and manages the Hub project.

“Today, we celebrate the culmination of years of hard work by the Franklin County Committee of 100, Franklin County Economic Development Commission and the Franklin County Board of Commissioners,” Wright said. “Through their visionary action, the site we are standing on today is the beginning of what promises to be a highly successful high-tech industrial park.”

Franklin County’s Hub Site is located at 440 Airport Road off of U.S. Highway 401, offering companies who locate within the park excellent access to both highway and air transportation outlets, said Franklin County Economic Development Commission Director Ronnie Goswick. “Franklin County is also conveniently located only 30 minutes from Raleigh and the Raleigh-Durham International Airport.”

The Hub project provides increased benefits for businesses locating within their sites. Franklin County is classified by the N.C. Department of Commerce as a Tier 3 county, meaning that companies that locate in its industrial parks may receive up to $750 for each new job they create. Hub sites in all four counties, including Franklin County, are classified as Tier 1, which quality them for up to $12,500 for each new job created by companies that locate within them.

For more information on locating or expanding in Franklin County, contact Goswick at (919) 554-1863 or via email at rgoswick@franklincountync.us.

The Kerr-Tar Hub is an economic development initiative, owned and managed by the Kerr-Tar Regional Economic Development Corp., to create a network of specialized industrial parks in four rural N.C. counties of Franklin, Granville, Vance and Warren. The Kerr-Tar Region is located in the northern part of the Research Triangle Region of North Carolina, home of The Research Triangle Park. The project has been nationally recognized for its unique approach of sharing both costs and revenues across county lines to create jobs and business investment. For more information, visit www.kerrtarhub.org.