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October 15, 2020
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BY GUY LUCAS
A state grant will help pay for renovations of the former Broyhill upholstery complex in Lenoir, where a Taylorsville-based company recently began production.
The North Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority announced Thursday a $500,000 building reuse grant to the city of Lenoir to support Craftmaster Furniture’s renovation of a 412,554-square-foot building.
Roy R. Calcagne, president and CEO of Craftmaster, reiterated in a prepared statement the company’s plans to have more than 100 employees there by mid-2021.
“We are excited to be expanding our business into Caldwell County, where furniture manufacturing has been providing local families with great paying jobs for more than a century,” he said. “We will be adding experienced upholsterers, sewers and frame builders over the next several months.”
The upholstery complex was purchased by Craftmaster’s parent company, Samson Holdings, in 2018 for $4.75 million after the bankruptcy of Heritage Home Group. It includes warehouses used by Baker Furniture, Lega- cy Classic Furniture and Grand Manor, which are sister companies to Craftmaster.