One month in to 2011, we continue to see the wave like cycle of new announcements, followed by job losses, that we have experienced for the past 18 months.
We are excited to see the announcement by Tuscarora that 124 new jobs are coming to China Grove (news). Infiltrator Systems has started their building renovations and have been almost overwhelmed by the response to their job postings. The Company expects to have a minimum of 33 employees on site when the start production later this quarter.
On the alternate side of the proverbial coin, the buyer of Lane Punch (operating in Rowan County since 1986) announced that they would be moving production out of state, costing 50+ of our citizens their jobs.
In the retail / service sector, we have seen some positive signs with the opening of Petsmart and Dunkin Doughnuts, as well as the start of construction on the new Courtyard by Marriott. With a number of our previous projects reaching completion, we hope that in the remainder of 2011, the positive announcements will continue to outnumber the bad, in both volume and quantity.