Caldwell County Success Story Sampling

At Caldwell County Economic Development (CCED), we aim to meet every business where they are. We specialize in developing a customized proposal and response to what a business needs. In 2009, Google chose Caldwell County for a data center complex — investing $1.2 billion in the facility and establishing a long-term commitment to the region and state. Contact CCED today to see why you should choose Caldwell County, too!

CaldWELL CHOSEN

Harmony Timberworks

Harmony Timberworks — their projects include the beams for Harry Potter World at Universal —  was searching for a "rail-side building" to reduce transportation costs of raw materials because they were landlocked in a neighboring county. In 2022, they chose to purchase land on the railway in Caldwell County for their expansion to simplify and drastically reduce the cost of transporting timber from Oregon and Northern California. 
CCED helped Harmony Timberworks procure the Local Jobs Incentive for $2,000 per job (for up to 20 positions) created over two years, and a Building Reuse Grant administered through the town of Hudson. Harmony Timberworks invested several million dollars in new construction, renovations and repairs to put the site back into operation.

MDI

MDI, a food distribution company, is Caldwell County’s largest employer. They chose to remain in Caldwell County in 2022 for their $35 million perishable foods expansion, partly because the land was less expensive here than in South Carolina or Georgia. The expansion is expected to create 125 new jobs with an average salary of around $59,000.

For the 250,000- square-foot expansion, North Carolina, Hickory and Caldwell County offered incentives. Caldwell County offered MDI a tax grant of 75 percent of taxes paid on new assessed value from the project over ten years. The county also offered to pay MDI $2,000 for retaining 50 jobs that would have been lost had the expansion happened at a different distribution center and $2,000 per each of the 125 jobs created. The state of North Carolina offered a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) of $1.08 million over 12 years based on an estimate that the expansion will grow the state’s economy by $323.4 million.

Earlier, in 2020, MDI embarked on a $120 million expansion to its dry goods distribution area, creating approximately 111 new jobs. The 2020 investment also received a JDIG grant from the state and incentives from Caldwell County and Hickory.

MMI Textiles

MMI Textiles, a diversified global supplier of industrial and custom fabrics and textile components with military, tactical, medical, commercial and apparel expertise, expanded its operations to Lenoir, NC, with a 30,000-square-foot production facility. This signaled an onshoring shift in manufacturing narrow fabrics – including webbing and binding tape – to in-house to improve quality and lead times. Mikan Printing, their existing print partner, was brought into the facility to further ensure quality control and timely delivery.