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March 6, 2019

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By: Virginia Annable

vannable@newstopicnews.com

A local furniture manufacturing company will be offered job-creation incentives by the county to expand and add 15 jobs over two years, but local officials did not identify the company.

The Caldwell County Board of Commissioners approved a jobs incentives grant of $2,000 per job created up to $30,000 for the 2-year-old company at Monday’s board meeting. Job incentives are paid only after a company can document that it has created jobs and kept them filled for a specified time.

The company is an example of how the furniture industry is still growing, said Deborah Murray, executive director of the Caldwell County Economic Development Commission.

“It’s a furniture project but also an opportunity for a second generation of a furniture family to participate and earn a living in that business,” Murray said.

The company plans a $400,000 expansion, which could include new machinery, equipment, real estate and building renovations. The company is in the process of buying an additional building, Murray said.

“It’s a company that has … outgrown its current place,” Murray said.

The company is also applying for a state building reuse grant. The job incentives would count as the county’s 5 percent match of local funds toward that grant.