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News Golden LEAF Funds Spur Development of State's
Largest Certified Industrial Site Pembroke, NC (July 7 , 2003) - Times were already tough in Robeson County, and then tobacco - historically a major crop in the county - took a direct hit. "Visible unemployment," as Tony Normand, CEO of Carolina Commerce and Technology Center (COMtech) in Pembroke, describes it, is about 12 percent. "Then I would guess that about another 10 percent have just given up on finding a job," he said. For many in Robeson County, tough times are nothing new because for decades the county has struggled economically. What is new is that Normand and the county's leadership, with grants from the Golden LEAF Foundation tobacco settlement money, have a project coming out of the ground that offers both hope and long-term solutions. COMtech, the largest certified industrial site in North Carolina, is becoming a remarkable success story and the sort of project that could be replicated in counties across the state that possess comparable vision and will. Amazing progress has been made in COMtech's three-year history. The non-profit has purchased 130 acres of a planned 612-acre industrial park site and snared grant after grant for infrastructure development. The remaining acreage is under option and will be bought as COMtech develops its three distinct zones: education and training, business and industry. A visit to COMtech means dodging heavy equipment. Infrastructure is going into place - roads, water and sewer, fiber optic cable - and three buildings are rising in the former tobacco field on Highway 711 - just minutes from the heart of the small town of Pembroke and the university campus there. Site preparation is underway for a fourth building, a manufacturing facility for environmentally friendly construction materials. And next spring, construction will begin on a business support center - more than 100,000 square feet of space to be built in stages. "We have received millions of dollars in help from the state and federal government," said Normand, " but I can tell you that none of this would have happened without the two grants from the Golden LEAF Foundation that came at just the right time. The county was able to help with key funds early on, but without the $336,000 from Golden LEAF, we would have had to lock the doors. I figure we have leveraged almost $100 with each Golden LEAF dollar we have received." Grants from the Economic Development Administration, the Rural Center and the North Carolina Department of Commerce mean that water already has been run from the town of Pembroke to the site and sewer lines are near completion. Development is springing up along the line to COMtech - an office center, a housing development with 136 homes, a recreation area, and doctors' offices just across the road from COMtech's impressive entrance. The fact that so much is happening so quickly is understandable when you meet the driving force, Tony Normand. He discovered Robeson County when serving in the Army's Special Operations Unit at Fort Bragg and liked it. After graduate work in international affairs and stints in such places as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, he sold his successful business and made his way back at retirement age to Robeson County. His Type A personality could not tolerate retirement, however, and volunteer work and new-found associations with UNC-Pembroke, Robeson Community College and other organizations quickly evolved into the challenge of a lifetime. The major players in COMtech are an impressive group. They include UNC-Pembroke, Robeson Community College, Robeson County School System, Robeson County Commissioners, the town of Pembroke, Pembroke Chamber of Commerce, Lumbee River Electric Membership Cooperative, Lumbee Bank, BellSouth and others. "I can't even begin to tell you all the people, companies and corporations that are a part of this effort, " said Normand. "This home we are using as an office was contributed. The fellow brought it over here, set it up and said use it as long as you need it. Another man knocked on the door, said he wanted to do something that would help his grandchildren have an easier time of it and gave me a $5 dollar bill. Legal, accounting, insurance, electricity, surveying, a car, secretarial services and more all have been donated. And Lumbee Bank is putting in $100,000 in cash over a five year period," said Norman. "You're talking about a county where a great percentage of people have incomes below poverty level, where 70 percent are eligible for Medicaid, and where 50 percent of the kids who enter high school never graduate," said Normand. "Folks have seen a lot of shell games in the past - promises and no results. When we started, they were pretty skeptical and disillusioned, but they knew something had to be done. Now they believe they are on to something that will create good jobs and raise the county up. And they are." UNC-Pembroke is building a $1.8 million Regional Center for Professional, Community and Economic Development on the COMtech site. Robeson Community College, using money from a recent statewide bond issue, is establishing a continuing education and technical center that should make the county a player in the emerging biotech arena. The Robeson County School System has bought 34 acres on which it will build a technology- based high school and meeting center. And COMtech, with help from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has nearly completed a headquarters building that will serve as the primary stop for any companies interested in doing business in Robeson County. "We have never had a place to host potential investors and give briefings in a professional, up-scale environment. The building is modest in size, but we made sure the architecture and construction reflect credit on the county and its citizens," said Normand. "One thing we learned from meetings we had around the county was that people didn't want anything unless it was something they could be proud of. That is one reason we devoted a lot of thought to the entrance to COMtech and made it so attractive." Normand said COMtech did not expect to produce jobs until its fifth year. "We have surprised ourselves. We will have 225 jobs in the center next year, and right now we have scores of people employed on the site doing construction work. Add to that at least another 150 jobs - plus construction jobs - as a result of the development going on along the new water and sewer lines and you can see the tremendous impact that COMtech already is having," said Normand. COMtech, with its broad countywide leadership, is translating community hopes and expectations into reality. "We must have close to $20 million in investments, land and infrastructure here at COMtech already. And, in turn, COMtech is proving it can be a catalyst for other development," Normand said. "They are selling lots right down the road now in the middle of Robeson County for $45,000, and the development of this center must be a factor in that substantial price." Normand and the COMtech's board are thinking ahead about the center's sustainability. "We can't count on Golden LEAF or anyone else to provide our operating expenses indefinitely. We have to become self-sustaining, even if it takes eight or nine years," said Normand. COMtech is producing a dependable income steam by contracting with each company or organization in the center for landscaping, security, trash disposal, janitorial services and parking lot maintenance. "The word is getting out, and we already have folks coming in here from long distances to see what we doing," Normand. "It sure feels good to see Robeson County, with all its challenges, coming together and setting the pace in economic development and transitioning from the area's traditional tobacco economy." # # # For additional information, please contact # # # For additional information, please contact Email: info@goldenleaf.org
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