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December 16, 2019

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By Guy Lucas
guylucas@newstopicnews.com

Dec 13, 2019 4:19 PM

The state has approved a grant to help a Lenoir furniture company with its expansion plans.

The $320,000 building reuse grant from the North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority will help Fairfield Chair Company renovate two of its buildings, the N.C. Department of Commerce announced Friday.

The company previously announced plans to invest $1.2 million in its expansion, which is expected to create 40 new jobs with an average wage of more than $39,000 a year. The company has not released details of its plans, including the buildings that will be involved.

The Caldwell County Board of Commissioners approved in November offering job creation incentives of $2,000 per job, up to a total of $80,000. The county’s job creation incentives are paid only after a company documents that it created the job and kept it filled for a specified amount of time.

The Rural Infrastructure Authority also approved another building reuse grant in the region: a $90,000 grant to help Paragon Films Inc., a manufacturer of stretch film products, pay for a 50,000-square-foot expansion of its plant in Taylorsville that is expected to create 11 new jobs.