Agenda - 04-23-2015 - Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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3 Hillsborough's small farmers and businesses. More details will be released soon in an ad campaign to be placed in the local media. • Business Investment Grant (Small Grants up to $1,500, and, Large Grants from $1,501 - $10,000) • Agriculture Economic Development Grant (Small Grants up to $1, 000, and Large Grants from $1,0014 10, 000) Morinaga America Foods, Inc. • Construction of the company's initial 100,000 square foot candy manufacturing facility is proceeding, with completion planned for mid - 2015, and an Open House ceremony set for late October. Town of Hillsborough & County leadership and elected officials will be invited. • The company recently accepted 850 resumes from candidates during a job fair at the Waterstone campus of Durham Tech. 2015 Agriculture Summit • The annual Orange County Agriculture Summit was held on February 16th in Hillsborough at Orange County's newly renovated Whitted Building facility. Orange County Arts Commission • The Orange County Arts Commission, previously based in Chapel Hill, has relocated to Hillsborough and will be housed within the Economic Development Department. Martha Shannon is the Executive Director. Recent Staff Chanaes within Oranae Countv Economic Development • Mike Ortosky is the County's new full -time "Agriculture Economic Developer" who assists County residents engaged in farming and food system initiatives. He is developing an Agriculture Economic Development Plan for the County and will also assist the formation of a proposed food council, serve as a liaison with tenants of the Piedmont Food and Agriculture Facility (PFAP), and pursue related food system goals that benefit farmers, businesses, and residents in Hillsborough and Orange County. • Yvonne Scarlett, a 15 -year staff member of the County agency and a Hillsborough resident, now fulfills the new "business retention" professional role created by the Board of Commissioners. The business retention economic developer assists existing businesses, large and small, to encourage their retention and expansion here in the County. • Amanda Garner assists the department director in "new business recruitment" regarding the attraction of new business prospects in manufacturing, commercial and retail development. Utility infrastructure progress in the Economic Development Districts • Over $4 million in water and sewer lines have been placed in the Buckhorn Economic Development District (EDD) to begin building a series of backbone infrastructure to serve the County's largest region