
Golden LEAF recognizes that rural and economically distressed communities must have sites available for development to attract new businesses and create opportunities for existing businesses to expand. To address this need, Golden LEAF created the SITE Program.
The SITE Program offers resources to help communities identify potential sites for economic development, provides funding to complete due diligence on publicly controlled sites, and provides funding to extend public utilities to publicly controlled sites or to conduct clearing and rough grading of publicly owned sites. The three phases of the SITE Program are Identification, Due Diligence, and Development.
At their December meeting, the Golden LEAF Board awarded $1,500,000 to Robeson County for clearing and grading, erosion control, adding backfill, and creating an access road for a site in the COMTech Business Park.
COMtech Business Park is a 700 acre site within Robeson County that serves to attract people of various industries and gather them all in one centralized location. The Journal published a story on the development a year ago.

Once Upon a Bite launched in early 2026 and has continued to grow through local markets, festivals, private events and community partnerships throughout the Fayetteville area.
Photo provided by Skin Specialists of FayettevilleA Veteran-owned Fayetteville medical spa that launched during the COVID-19 pandemic has grown into a multi-disciplinary aesthetics and wellness practice — winning the 2024 Readers’ Choice Award for Be
Josh Buracchio and his wife Gina had a vision two years ago: to bring the best of their beloved Pittsburgh’s culinary scene to Fayetteville.