Shown here is the exterior of the shell building. Scan the QR code for the full conversation from County Manager Brian Land’s most recent update.
With the first wall secured and in place, Richmond County Manager Brian Land provided County Commissioners with an update regarding the $2 million shell building.
After introducing the project last May, progress on building construction continues despite tropical storms and other wet weather providing a few delays.
“[Richmond County Economic Development Director Martie Butler] and I have a construction meeting today, and it’s looking like right around Christmas when the building will be completed,” Land said. “… The building pad is completly graded. The stone is roughed-in and stone is put on the road. About a fourth of the concrete, which is will be the floor system of the building has been poor. The front wall internal skeleton is actually coming out of the ground it was erected last week. The entire metal building is on site, so we have all of the materials needed to essentially put the remaining pieces of the puzzle together, so we’re extremely excited about this.”
Funding for the $2 million, 40,000 square foot addition to the Richmond County Highway 74 Industrial Park comes as part of an federal program facilitated through Pee Dee Electric. As part of the program, the county would finance the project over 10 years at no interest with the option of differing payments for up to 24 months.
“It’s a really sweet deal for Richmond County. Obviously, this is the sixth one we’ve done. We’ve been very successful with them in the past. It’s one of the most successful shell building programs in the state of North Carolina. Martie and I are extremely excited about what we’ve been able to do,” Land said.
Last summer, Butler said the shell building at the industrial park would benefit economic development in Richmond County by attracting outside manufacturers to either relocate to Richmond County or establish themselves in Richmond County. With a building already in place, and not having to spend time to renovate an existing buildg or go out of pocket to construct a new building, companies may put Richmond County higher on their list of potential suitors.
“Having product available is key in economic development. If you do not have any product, then you’re more than likely not going to have any new business or growth. We’ve had existing industries expand into our shell buildings and new businesses move into our shell buildings. We have a mixed bag … We’ve been at this for a while. It’s been a pretty good little program for us,” Butler said.
Land said all five previous buildings are occupied by businesses.
“These folks have on point operations and an annual impact of 225 jobs, 401 total jobs, $27 million in labor income and $165 million in total economic output – essentially $23 dollars in economic output for every $1 that Richmond County invested into these shell buildings. You can see why Martie and I are constantly huge cheerleaders for our shell building program,” Land said.