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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> MEBANE CITY COUNCIL <br /> JOINT MEETING <br /> JOINT MEETING AGENDA ITEMS ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: November 14, 2013 <br /> SUBJECT: Joint Meeting Discussion Items <br /> DEPARTMENT: Interim County Manager/City PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No <br /> Manager/County <br /> Planning/County Economic <br /> Development/County <br /> DEAPR/City Recreation & <br /> Parks/County Financial <br /> Services <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> As noted in "Background" section Michael Talbert, 245-2300; David Cheek, <br /> 563-5901; Craig Benedict, 245-2575; Steve <br /> Brantley, 245-2325; David Stancil, 245- <br /> 2510; Dean Ray, 563-3629; Clarence <br /> Grier, 245-2450 <br /> PURPOSE: To discuss topics of mutual interest between the governing boards of Orange <br /> County and the City of Mebane. <br /> BACKGROUND: <br /> 1. Economic Development& Infrastructure Update <br /> To recap the significant industrial recruitment success that occurred on September 3, 2013, <br /> Orange County, the City of Mebane and the State of North Carolina jointly announced that <br /> Morinaga America Foods, Inc. selected a 21-acre light industrial site (see Attachment 1) where <br /> the Company will build a 98,000 square foot candy production facility to make the "Hi-Chew" <br /> snack product, employ 90 workers and invest up to $48 million. The project will pay its <br /> employees an average annual salary of$38,000 and contribute an annual payroll of$3.4 million <br /> to the community. Recruitment of this 114-year old major Japanese confectionary company <br /> over the recent 18 months involved a joint professional recruitment effort by Orange County and <br /> the City of Mebane amid a very competitive statewide and national site search by the company. <br /> Morinaga America Foods will begin site work in March 2014 and work toward a completed <br /> factory by mid-2015. The site location in the Buckhorn Economic Development District is large <br /> enough to accommodate one or more additional plant expansions in the future, and there are <br /> signs the Company will eventually grow with additional phases of similar size. Infrastructure <br /> and related development issues (see Attachment 1) are now ongoing to support the project, to <br /> include: <br />