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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> Meeting Date: December 7, 2020 <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item No. 8-h <br /> SUBJECT: Proposed One-Year Extension to ABB's Inc.'s Incentive Performance <br /> Agreement Concerning the Company's Employment & Investment Target Dates <br /> DEPARTMENT: Economic Development, <br /> Manager's Office, Attorney's <br /> Office <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): <br /> INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> 1. Performance Agreement — Orange <br /> County & ABB, Inc.(signed Aug. 2019) Steve Brantley, Director, Economic <br /> 2. Abstract for Orange County's Public Development Dept., (919) 245-2326 <br /> Hearing for Incentives for ABB, Inc. <br /> (dated July 23, 2019) <br /> 3. Orange County Media Release, (dated <br /> July 10, 2019) <br /> PURPOSE: Consider a request from ABB, Inc. for the Board to approve a waiver to the current <br /> Performance Agreement's Section 6. B (Delay of Inducement Package Initiation), and approve a <br /> 1-year extension in the company's contractual requirement to achieve overall employment hiring <br /> and investment goals over the first 5 years. <br /> BACKGROUND: On July 10, 2019, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Orange County and <br /> the City of Mebane jointly announced a decision by ABB, Inc. to make a major industrial expansion <br /> at the firm's Orange County factory. At that event, the company committed to adding 403 new <br /> manufacturing jobs, with an average salary of $70,789 with benefits, and investing $39.9 million <br /> to build 200,000 sq. ft. onto the current facility. ABB chose to expand here following their multi- <br /> state analysis of several competing locations, and due to financial incentive offers by the State of <br /> North Carolina, Orange County and the City of Mebane. Orange County's $972,722 incentive <br /> was subsequently approved by the Board of Commissioners on July 23, 2019 following a required <br /> public hearing. The Performance Agreement was signed shortly thereafter. <br /> ABB is Orange County's #1 largest private employer, with nearly 600 current associates, and has <br /> the highest average salary of all Orange County manufacturing industries. With the addition of <br /> 403 new employees, the firm will retain its' top private employer position in the County. <br /> Orange County's Performance Agreement with ABB, Inc. (see Attachment a) requires the <br /> company to (1) add new 403 employee positions, and (2) complete a $39.9 million investment by <br /> the end of the first 5 years. These two targets are to be achieved between an assumed <br />