Agenda - 02-12-2008-2 - Laserfiche WebLink

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county region. Several service providers confirmed that low cost sites for project development are unavailable in this area. The most viable areas with the study region are Alamance County and northern Orange County. Alamance County Alamance County enjoys several positive factors, including the culinary training program at Alamance Community College (ACC) in Graham, many small farms, and many abandoned or underutilized former factory buildings. Nineteen of 62 completed surveys came from individuals and businesses in Alamance County. Additionally, county service providers and community leaders have exhibited strong support for the project. The Alamance County Center of Cooperative Extension was helpful in disseminating surveys. The director of the Small Business Center at ACC met with the researcher and mailed surveys to her clients, and the Alamance Chamber of Commerce was extremely helpful in arranging tours of potential sites. Because Alamance has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the region, the county maybe eligible for certain types of federal, state, or private foundation grants unavailable to other counties. Finally, the researcher discovered that efforts have already been underway to determine the feasibility of a shared use kitchen facility in the county. Penny Hawkins, a culinary professional and resident of the eastern Alamance town of Mebane, conducted secondary research into shared use facilities in 2005 and worked closely with ACC Sma11 Business Director Milele Archibald to measure community support for a facility. Kelly May; Director of Research and Communications for Economic Development at the Chamber, gave aday-long tour of potential project sites to the researcher. Sites visited included the former Hopedale Mills in Haw River, Glencoe, White Furniture in Mebane, 612 Main Street in Burlington, and Saxapahaw. One fact is clear from the tour: Alamance County has a large number of potentially available commercial buildings for project development. However, none of the facilities identified meet the optimal size range (7,500 to 15,000 square feet), and all are privately owned. Discussions with leasing agents and real estate managers indicated that the average asking price for commercial warehouses and abandoned factories is a lease of $3.00 per square foot per year. No owners or representatives expressed an interest in selling sub-divided areas of far larger buildings. Finally, all spaces identified as potential sites were in poor condition, requiring substantial investments to upgrade or renovate for food production use. In sum, while many positive factors exist, Alamance County does not appear to have a location that meets all or most of the criteria for site selection discussed above. Hilisborough/Northern Orange County Hillsborough and northern Orange County enjoy several of the same positive factors associated with Alamance County: Many small farms, active support from local service providers, and measured demand from potential facility clients. Additionally, 40