Orange County NC Website
6 <br /> 1 Orange County's Performance-Based Incentive <br /> 2 State of N.C.'s Rural Division Building Reuse Incentive <br /> 3 • This State program is intended to support the renovation or expansion of vacant <br /> 4 buildings, or buildings occupied by a company operating in North Carolina for at least 12 <br /> 5 months. <br /> 6 • Orange County would serve as the administrative entity for this State of North Carolina <br /> 7 financial grant that is structured as a forgivable loan program, once ABB's new jobs are <br /> 8 created. <br /> 9 • As ABB incurs actual costs associated with the facility improvements it plans to make to <br /> 10 the existing building, and creates new employment, the $500,000 State grant will be <br /> 11 passed through the County to ABB. <br /> 12 • To eliminate any financial risk for the County, the pass-through funds will not be <br /> 13 requested from the State until ABB meets all investment and employment criteria, and <br /> 14 satisfies any other program requirements. <br /> 15 <br /> 16 Orange County's Performance-Based Incentive (table) <br /> 17 Revenue Projections <br /> 18 <br /> 19 Chair Rich said Leila Halperin, student intern, had a question as to why most of the <br /> 20 hiring will be done on the front end of the project. <br /> 21 Doug Sutter, ABB's Program Manager for Electrification Products, with the firm's <br /> 22 industrial Connections and & Solutions Group (Cary, N.C. office), said the jobs are front loaded <br /> 23 because ABB is building a new factory, and then consolidating jobs from another Florida to the <br /> 24 Mebane location. <br /> 25 Commissioner Dorosin referred to the grant from the state, and asked if the state will <br /> 26 give Orange County the $500,000, which the County then gives to the company. He clarified <br /> 27 that it is like a loan, and if ABB meets the requirements of the grant, then the repayment is <br /> 28 forgiven overtime. <br /> 29 Steve Brantley said yes, in a traditional sense, it is a pass through. He said a company <br /> 30 might draw down on the grant in certain increments. He said ABB has a stellar credit rating, <br /> 31 and is not a risk. He said the Board could wait to receive the funds, until the things that trigger <br /> 32 within the state grant, have already been met. <br /> 33 Doug Sutter said he would like to offer sincere thanks to Orange County and its partners, <br /> 34 on behalf of ABB, Inc. He said this process only took 54 days, which is remarkable. He <br /> 35 thanked Steve Brantley and Amanda Garner for their hard work. <br /> 36 Doug Sutter said ABB is a global company based in Zurich, Switzerland, and have been <br /> 37 innovating for over 130 years. He said ABB is a leader in digital industries, with customer <br /> 38 focused, globally leading businesses: electrification, industrial automation, motion robotics, <br /> 39 discrete automation, and power grids. He said ABB supports all of this with a common ABB <br /> 40 ability digital platform. <br /> 41 Doug Sutter said there are several reasons why ABB came to North Carolina a decade <br /> 42 ago: <br /> 43 • top tier universities, with access to top tier talent <br /> 44 . top community college systems <br /> 45 • proximity to their customer <br /> 46 • growing energy hub in NC <br /> 47 • quality of life for ABB employees <br /> 48 <br /> 49 Doug Sutter said ABB employs over 3000 people in NC, and has invested over$14 <br /> 50 billion in the United States, and grown from 6000 to 24,000 employees in the past decade. He <br />