Agenda 12-01-2025; 8-h - Approval of ABB, Inc. Performance Agreement Amendment

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1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: December 1, 2025 Action Agenda Item No. 8-h SUBJECT: Approval of ABB, Inc. Performance Agreement Amendment DEPARTMENT: Economic Development, Attorney's Office ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: 1) July 2019 Performance Agreement— Steve Brantley, Director, Economic ABB, Inc. and Orange County Development, 919-245-2326 2) April 2022 Performance Agreement Amendment 3) Proposed December 2025 Performance Agreement Amendment PURPOSE: To approve a proposed amendment to the performance agreement between ABB, Inc. and Orange County providing a one-month extension to the termination date to allow for verification of the final year performance metrics. BACKGROUND: On July 10, 2019, former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, Orange County and the City of Mebane jointly announced a decision by ABB, Inc. to make a major industrial expansion at the firm' s Orange County factory. At that event, the company committed to adding 403 new manufacturing jobs, with an average salary of$70,789 with benefits, and investing $39.9 million to add 200,000 square feet onto the current facility. ABB chose to expand here following its multi-state analysis of several competing locations, and due to financial incentive offers from the State of North Carolina, Orange County and the City of Mebane. Orange County's $972,722 incentive was subsequently approved by the Board of Commissioners at a July 23, 2019 meeting following a required public hearing. The Performance Agreement was signed shortly thereafter. In December 2020, the Board of Commissioners approve a waiver to the Performance Agreement's Section 6. B (Delay of Inducement Package Initiation) and approved a one-year extension in the company's contractual requirement to achieve overall employment hiring and investment goals over the first five years, resulting in a January 2026 agreement termination date. ABB, Inc. has identified a misalignment with the due date of the employment reporting form used to verify the job creation for the 4t" quarter 2025 and the current performance agreement termination date. The North Carolina Tax and Wage Report (NCUI Form) is due to the North Carolina State Unemployment Insurance Tax System (NCSUITS) by January 31, 2026. This deadline creates a timing problem to complete all review steps and process payment before the performance agreement's termination on January 31, 2026. As a result, the company has requested an extension until March 1, 2026 to allow time for the submission and County review of its final year reporting.