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Caldwell Memorial-UNC Health Care

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Caldwell County’s unemployment rate continued its trend of year-over-year declines, dropping to 10.7 percent in March, a full 1.4 percentage points lower than the 12.1 percent rate seen in March 2012, the N.C. Labor and Economic Analysis Division reported Wednesday.

The unemployment rate in February was 11.5 percent. The February-to-March change, a drop of 0.8 percentage points, was slightly better than the state average of 0.6 percentage points and the drops see in neighboring Catawba and Burke counties, 0.6 percentage points, or Alexander, 0.5.

But the March-to-March change was the fourth-best improvement in the state.

Statistics for the overall metropolitan statistical area – consisting of Lenoir, Hickory and Morganton – show that since March 2012, professional and business services saw the largest gains in employment, adding some 1,200 workers. Leisure and hospitality added 800 jobs.

That more than offset losses of 600 jobs in the manufacturing industry and 300 in government over the same period.

Caldwell’s workforce in March 2013, 38,085 people, was slightly smaller than the one in March 2012, 38,400. The total number of unemployed saw a similar decline, from 4,360 in March 2012 to 4,060 in March 2013.

Caldwell’s unemployment rate briefly was even lower last fall — it was 10.4 percent in September. But even while creeping back up to 12 percent in January, the year-to-year comparisons for each month have continued to show improvement. The rate had shot from 6.2 percent in April 2008, before the effects of the recession were felt, to 14.6 in February 2009 and peaked at 17 in February 2010.

By Jacob Flannick, (Lenoir) News-Topic

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Caldwell Memorial Hospital had been part of the UNC Health Care System for 13 hours when the official announcement came in a ceremony Wednesday. UNC Health Care is now the sole owner of Caldwell Memorial Hospital Inc.

Under terms of the agreement, UNC Health Care will make at least $35 million in capital improvements at CMH over five years; maintain the current management of CMH and keep local board representation; keep CMH employee pay and benefits the same; keep CMH a private, nonprofit, acute-care hospital; and contribute at least $4 million to the CMH Foundation.

While capital improvements have not been identified, the hospital will start work on a 12-month strategic and master facility plan to identify needs, said Laura Easton, CMH’s president and CEO.

“We also want to bring services to the community from UNC Health Care here locally, specialty services not currently available,” Easton said.

Such services may include research and clinical trials, or a pediatric cardiologist.

The announcement was made during a mid-day ceremony at the hospital entrance attended by hospital officials, city officials and other dignitaries.

Two years ago the hospital started a search to find a partner to help strengthen its position as a provider and respond to the ever changing health care environment, a task that was becoming increasingly difficult as an independent community hospital.

“This partnership will secure, strengthen and ennoble health care for all of our people and for generations yet to come,” said Parker T. Williamson, the chairman of the CMH board of directors.

CMH invited UNC Health care to submit a proposal because of its management resources and track record in improving community hospitals, officials said during Wednesday’s ceremony. UNC Health Care and CMH also share a cultural understanding of the needs of the state and region in building stronger physician relationships, and its ability to connect patients to specialty care.

“In short, this is a win for patients in the Caldwell County area and the UNC Health Care System,” said David Strong, CEO for system affiliations for UNC Health Care.

CMH has 110 beds and a network of more than 50 primary and specialty care physicians. UNC Health Care Systems is a nonprofit system owned by the state of North Carolina and exists to further the teaching mission of the University of North Carolina and provide state-of-the-art patient care. The network includes the UNC School of Medicine, Pardee Hospital in Hendersonville, Rex Healthcare and its provider network in Wake County, and hospice services in seven central North Carolina counties.

By Kim Gilliland, (Lenoir) News-Topic

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http://www.wsoctv.com/videos/news/google-planning-major-expansion-in-lenoir/vyXW3/

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Google’s announcement Friday that it will spend $600 million to expand its data center in Lenoir excited Gov. Pat McCrory.

“I like company expansion better than new startups,” McCrory said. “Expansion gives confidence to other businesses that they made the right decisions to locate in an area. It gives confidence in an area and confirms the investments are solid.”

He said Google’s additional investment shows the company is convinced it’s in the right place, and the announcement will help many businesses in the Lenoir area and assist with more economic development.

“This is a shot in the arm for everyone,” McCrory said, emphasizing that he’s high on new industry and its critical importance to North Carolina. “Expansion tells everybody they were right,” he said.

The $600 million expansion brings Google’s total investment in the Lenoir data center to $1.2 billion.

“It’s been more than six years since we broke ground,” said Enoch Moeller, the data center manager. “North Carolina and the Lenoir community are great places in which to work and grow.” He said the data center demonstrates Google’s long-term commitment to Caldwell County and the local community.

Google employs 150 people at the center. This is the site’s second expansion. In 2010, Google built another data center.

Before the groundbreaking ceremony, McCrory chose to focus on Google employee Paul Bowman, a Caldwell County native who started out in furniture manufacturing. The governor said Bowman knew he needed to upgrade his education and did so through the community college system. His certification in information technology led to a job with Google and a good life for his family.

“This is about the employees,” McCrory said. “It comes down to the individual families and quality of life. It’s a boost of confidence for the community.”

Friday’s gathering unveiled a second initiative that could have statewide impact. Duke Energy will go before the N.C. Utilities Commission and ask for a special rate structure for businesses that buy electricity generated from renewable resources. Google has committed to the “green energy” venture and to use as much renewable-resource power as possible.

“This is a great day for Duke,” said Paul Newton, state president of Duke Energy North Carolina. “By participating (in the initiative) Google will again lead the way … thinking about the future.”

Jeff Brooks, media spokesman for Duke, said the special rate structure is still being development. It is designed to help Google and other program participants offset electricity costs and propel interest and investment in new power generation.

Brooks said any qualified electricity producer can sell power to Duke.

Businesses that want to use non-traditional sources of electricity should lead to more renewable energy development such as solar power,” Brooks said.

Excitement ruled the day at Google.

“This is a great day,” said Jeff Branch, chairman of the Caldwell County Board of Commissioners. “The expansion of a global company … is an example of the restructuring of Caldwell County’s economy. Google … is a key to our economic future.” U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows agreed. “Google is helping make the transition from the old economy to the new economy,” he said.

T.J. Rohr, Lenoir mayor pro tem, called Google “a tremendous advantage” for Lenoir and the county. He said Google’s presence shows young people they can pursue a high-tech career and remain in Caldwell.

Google’s presence also builds the reputation for all of Western North Carolina as a data corridor,” said Deborah Murray, executive director of Caldwell County Economic Development Commission. She said lots of people have worked hard to prove North Carolina is a place where data centers and high-tech businesses want to locate.

State Sen. Dan Soucek put Google and the Lenoir area’s reach into perspective. “Google affects the lives of tens of millions of families around the world, and hundreds of families right here in Caldwell County.”

After the ceremonial groundbreaking, Branch said Google will not receive any new incentives with the new investment. “It’s going to be the same as it was at first,” he said.

The linchpin of the startup incentive was the property tax deal between Google and Lenoir and Caldwell County. Google pays its property tax bill on time at the first of January. But six months later, the local governments send a potion of the payment back to Google.

In the interim, local government uses the money to generate revenue.

And there are the permanent jobs and services the company generates.

Moeller said the data center was built with a mix of local and non-local contractors. All contractors were from North Carolina, he said. And now, more construction money will be spent and more jobs created.

“Google is part of our vocabulary,” said NC Rep. Edgar Starnes, a legislative veteran who serves Caldwell County. “Google is an action verb.”

Green Google

Google’s immediate participation is one reason Duke Energy is in eager pursuit of a special rate structure to present to the state utilities commission. According to information from Google, the company’s data centers consume 50 percent less energy than the typical data center. In 2007, Google made a voluntary commitment to become carbon neutral – meaning the company aims to wean itself from electricity produced by coal, oil and gas.

Google has long-term agreements to buy power directly from wind farm developers. The company has earmarked $1 billion for renewable energy investments that can produce enough electricity to power 500,000 American homes.

The governor’s reaction to the Duke-Google announcement: “We want renewable resources and to keep energy costs low. It’s an extra benefit for industry and North Carolina. It’s a great energy plan.”

By Larry Clark, Hickory Daily Record

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Google will double its investment in Lenoir, spending $600 million to expand its data center here, the company announced Friday.

Since its initial announcement in December 2006 of the $600 million investment to build the data center, Google has hired more than 150 people, said Enoch Moeller, the data center’s operations manager. Google initially had pledged to create at least 200 jobs and received a $4.8 million incentive grant from the state. No additional jobs are planned as a result of the expansion, Moeller said.

Another Google spokesman said, “An expansion like this always creates new jobs, and we’ll be hiring to fill new positions in the new building, but we don’t have an exact number to share at this time.”

Also, Duke Energy will seek state permission to create a separate rate structure for energy produced by renewable energy for large users such as Google to purchase, said Paul Newton, Duke Energy’s president for North Carolina.

Google is committed to being good environmental stewards, which includes both energy efficiency and the development of renewable energy, Moeller said. Google’s data centers consume half the energy of the typical data center. In 2007, Google made a voluntary commitment to become carbon-neutral.

Gov. Pat McCrory hailed the energy initiative as a market-based method to promote the development of low-cost, reliable energy.

McCrory said a key difference between the proposal Newton announced and existing state law mandating renewable-energy targets for utilities, which Republicans in the General Assembly have attacked, is “he’s talking about a voluntary program.” Allowing large power users to opt in to the renewable-energy rate structure would provide the market incentive for gradually continuing to develop the technology while keeping rates for other users low, he said.

McCrory and a parade of local and regional officials, including the area’s legislative representatives and U.S. Rep. Mark Meadows, R-11th, took turns singing Google’s praises.

In an interview after the announcement and ceremonial groundbreaking, McCrory hailed Google’s announcement for the halo effect it could have on industrial recruitment in the region and the rest of the state.

“People want to go where other people want to go,” he said. “It’s a shot of adrenaline to other people who want to come here.”

McCrory said Google’s willingness to double its investment here spoke well of Caldwell County’s business climate.

“The expansion of this is an even greater statement than the initial announcement was,” he said.

Deborah Murray, executive director of the Caldwell County Economic Development Commission, expressed hope that Google’s expansion will encourage other technology companies to come to the region.

“The most exciting thing about Google announcing the expansion of its data center is it strengthens western North Carolina as a data corridor,” she said.

Lenoir Mayor Pro Tem T.J. Rohr spoke of both the tangible and intangible benefits of Google. Tangible benefits include Google’s sponsorship of programs in the Caldwell County Schools that help students achieve, Rohr said, and the intangible ones include giving students a greater sense of their own possibilities through exposure to those programs.

“Google gives kids a glimpse of the possibilities both inside and outside Lenoir,” he said.

Google says it has awarded $1 million to local schools and nonprofits since 2008.

Friday’s announcement was the lastest of several data center expansions Google has announced in recent months, including one at a data center near Charleston, S.C., that was built around the same time as the one in Lenoir.

By Guy Lucas and Jacob Flannick, (Lenoir) News-Topic

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April 20, 2013

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The sprawling former Broyhill headquarters in Lenoir will change its focus from furniture to pharmaceuticals after a small Caldwell County firm announced plans to buy the 43-acre site.

Exela Pharma Sciences will spend $8.5 million to buy and transform the 140,000-square-foot building on U.S. 321 for use as laboratories, manufacturing and warehousing.

The firm develops and manufactures pharmaceutical products that can be injected or applied to the eye.

Exela will hire 42 new full-time people, almost doubling its workforce in Caldwell County. The new jobs will pay an average of $47,395; the average annual wage in Caldwell County is $29,640. The old Broyhill headquarters is seven times larger than Exela’s current 20,000-square-foot facility.

Exela opened in Lenoir five years ago and also has a research and development facility in Hyderabad, India.

Exela received an $189,000 state grant for job creation in January. The company needed extra space for warehousing, offices and labs.

“We hope to maintain the momentum and continue to grow in Caldwell County,” company president Phanesh Koneru said in a news release. He could not be reached for further comment.

Caldwell County is focused on broadening its economic base beyond furniture manufacturing, which is still its largest employer, said Deborah Murray, head of the county’s Economic Development Commission.

Having Exela take over Broyhill’s prominent location on U.S. 321 will be a symbol of the county’s move to diversify its workforce, she said.

The biggest change recently has been the arrival of Google, which opened a $600 million data center in Lenoir in 2008. Lenoir is also home to GREER Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company in the allergy field with 267 employees.

Broyhill moved from the three-story building with its expansive manicured lawn three years ago to be closer to its Caldwell County furniture plants.

J.E. Broyhill has been a prominent name in Caldwell County since 1919 when J.E. Broyhill started building furniture and the company is still a major employer in Caldwell County. His son Jim served in the U.S. House and Senate for almost a quarter-century. The local civic auditorium bares the family name.

Seeing the old Broyhill sign come down will sadden Lenoir Mayor Joe Gibbons, but he says the company is still a major part of the community. “It’s a nostalgic thing. It will be sad to see that name go away,” Gibbons said.

He hopes the success of Exela will attract the attention of other scientific and pharmaceutical companies. “It is a new day for us. We are working hard to diversify,” Gibbons said.

The real estate sale closed on Friday. The building was owned by Furniture Brands International of St. Louis. The sale price was not released.

By Dianne Whitacre Straley, The Charlotte Observer

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Google on Friday announced a $600 million expansion of its Lenoir data center, a development state and local officials trumpeted as proof of North Carolina’s attractiveness to high-tech companies.

Officials also said Google intends to join a new Duke Energy program aimed at getting major power consumers to use renewable energy.

The news came little more than six years after the California-based Internet search giant broke ground at its 215-acre site in Caldwell County. The company, which had said it planned to expand on its initial $600 million investment, broke ground Friday on a third building on the campus.

That brings Google’s North Carolina investment to $1.2 billion.

“It’s great news for Caldwell County and our state,” Gov. Pat McCrory said.

The expansion won’t immediately create new technology jobs, however. About 150 people work at the data center, most of whom were hired locally. A Google spokesman said the company will eventually hire more workers, but he didn’t have any numbers to share Friday.

Caldwell County officials noted that the company’s presence has reinvigorated the public image of a region that has suffered greatly from the decline in the manufacturing sector.

They said Friday’s news solidifies the area’s standing as the epicenter of the state’s growing data center corridor. Apple built a data center in Maiden, while Facebook has one in Forest City.

Jeff Branch, chairman of the Caldwell County commissioners’ board, said the region is “on the cutting edge” of the fast-growing digital sector. “In a county like ours, Google can make a big difference,” he said.

Added Lenoir Mayor Pro Tem T.J. Rohr: “Suddenly working in technology isn’t just something a guidance counselor talks about. It’s a career you can have and stay here in Lenoir.” The city is about 75 miles northwest of Charlotte.

McCrory stressed that economic development is about people, not numbers. He singled out Paul Bowman, a Google employee who’d grown up in Caldwell County. Bowman operated molding machinery at a furniture manufacturer before going to community college and getting skills that helped him land his current job as an operations engineer.

“This is what it’s all about,” McCrory said. “Helping the individual and their family have a great quality of life.”

Shaking the governor’s hand later, Bowman said, “You wouldn’t believe how much a little bit (of additional education) will help.”

The expansion will be included in a renewable energy program Charlotte-based Duke Energy is creating for large customers. Duke plans to make a regulatory filing with the N.C. Utilities Commission within 90 days, seeking approval for a new rate structure that would encourage large consumers like Google to use renewable energy.

Duke says its program would help companies like Google meet their sustainability goals while encouraging development of renewable energy in the state. Energy sold under the new tariff would come from new sources, it says, either from independent renewable-energy developers or projects Duke itself creates.

“We hope the interest will extend beyond Google,” said spokesman Jeff Brooks.

North Carolina does not let companies buy renewable energy directly from on-site generation – only utilities can sell electricity. Duke maintains the so-called third-party sales would hurt consumers but said the new tariff is not a response to efforts to allow those sales.

State legislators also are debating legislation to freeze or repeal the state’s renewable-energy standard, which was enacted in 2007. Brooks said Duke has not asked for any changes to the standard.

Google and other data companies use vast networks of computer servers in their data centers, all of which require massive amounts of power. Google’s Caldwell County center houses systems supporting Google search, Gmail, the Google+ social network and YouTube.

“As more of the world moves online, demand for Google’s services continues to grow,” said Gary Demasi, director of Google’s global infrastructure team. “We want our renewable energy options to grow with it.”

Owners of power-hungry data centers have been under pressure from environmental groups to use clean energy.

The New York Times reported in 2011 that Google’s data centers sucked in almost 260 million watts, or about a quarter of the output of a nuclear power plant, to run its searches and other Internet services.

Google said in a news release that it operates some of the world’s most efficient data centers, consuming 50 percent less energy than typical centers. It has installed solar panels at its corporate headquarters and is pushing utilities to offer renewable power options to companies that request it.

Apple says its data center in Maiden, about 40 miles northwest of Charlotte, makes enough renewable energy to displace all the facility’s power usage. The energy it produces goes onto the electric grid.

The company completed a 20-megawatt solar farm next to the center in 2012 and expects a second 20-megawatt farm to go online late this year.

Apple also built a 10-megawatt fuel cell installation that runs on natural gas. In all, the company says its renewable facilities in Maiden produce enough energy to power 17,600 homes for a year.

Greenpeace, a critic of data centers and of Duke, said Friday’s announcement “shows what forward-thinking companies can accomplish when they are serious about powering their operations with clean energy.”

“It’s good news that Duke is beginning to heed their major new customers’ demand for renewable energy sources,” Gary Cook, a Greenpeace IT analyst, said in a statement. “Done right, this Renewable Tariff program could help North Carolina finally begin to realize the benefits of a clean energy revolution, which Duke has blocked in the past.”

By Eric Frazier and Bruce Henderson, The Charlotte Observer

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A Caldwell County business has received assistance toward enhancing its efforts in developing alternative fuel sources.

Verdante BioEnergy and its non-profit partner Carolina Land and Lakes have received a $67,848 grant from the Biofuels Center of North Carolina to conduct a feasibility study for a feedstock depot in Western North Carolina.

Headquartered in Lenoir, Verdante was created last year by its parent company, Whistlepig Enterprises, LLC. The five-person operation is guided by company president David Waechter.

“We’ll be able to contribute to the development of biomass energy in North Carolina,” Waechter said about the grant. “For our region, it will give us a spotlight. What we want to do is try to raise the flag that we have biomass resources.”

Waechter said the feasibility study will allow Verdante and Carolina Land and Lakes to visit other biomass depots across the county in order to better understand the reasons behind their successes or failures. The evaluation process is expected to be concluded in early 2014, Waechter added.

“We are going to have some real data on what that market looks like after we get that study,” he said.

As for Carolina Land and Lakes, the Newton-based resource conservation and development organization will manage the grant funding. The project will expand upon the group’s range of activities, which previously have included stream restoration and dam projects.

“We’ve also been looking for anything that will help stir up the economy a little bit,” said Donna Lichtenwalner, the project director for Carolina Land and Lakes.

A stated goal of the project is to enhance the region’s ability to produce and supply adequate feedstock for the large-scale production of bioenergy.

“We want to be able to have the feedstock at the depot to transfer to a supplier or another user,” Lichtenwalner said.

She also hopes to be able to study how schools across the country are converting gas or propane boilers in order to be fueled by wood pellets instead. Lichtenwalner said those projects are saving school systems thousands of dollars per month in heating and cooling expenses.

Added Waechter, “We have a growing energy sector and we would like to attract other players into the market. We have a lot of wood. We have a lot of agriculture, and we have some good landfill-to-gas projects.”

Note: This press release was compiled by the Caldwell County Economic Development Commission.

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