That's a wrap, 2024! GFBJ is celebrating another great year of coverage by providing a recap of some key developments announced this year

By Faith Hatton, posted Dec 23, 2024 on BizFayetteville.com

---

The year 2024 was the year of growth and new deals throughout the Greater Fayetteville Business Journal’s seven county coverage area. From incoming businesses to expanding commercial properties and more, the greater Fayetteville area can expect additional hard-hitting headlines as we enter 2025. GFBJ has compiled a list of some of the economic highlights throughout the year and is committed to continuing to provide coverage on these announcements. 

BLADEN COUNTY 

Feb. 1, 2024: Vulcanair aircraft announced that it would be establishing its headquarters manufacturing facility and maintenance operations at the Elizabethtown Corporate Airpark, located at the Curtis L. Brown Jr. Airfield. The facility will be producing the Vulcanair V1.0 aircraft, which has been in production since the late 1960s. A combined $7 million is invested in the facility, which will be part of the new Elizabethtown Corporate Airpark being built on the south side of the industrial park. 

June 12, 2024: Major construction projects were underway at Curtis L. Brown, Jr. Airport. Due to grants totaling $5.7 million, significant improvements have been made, enhancing safety and efficiency for all airport users including runway replacement, apron and taxiway replacement and a full reconstruction of Taxiway “C.” An announcement was also made sharing that Sovereign Aerospace, which joined the airport in April of 2023, would begin full-service maintenance operations onsite beginning June 15, 2024. 

Dec. 2, 2024: Town of Elizabethtown Town Manager Dane Rideout provided an update on the highly anticipated “Live, Work Play” project, a collaborative $160 million plan for developing Elizabethtown Industrial Park into commercial, residential and hospitality-based properties. It was announced that The Estuary, a sustainable "Live, Work, Play” community will bring 284 energy-efficient homes to the area. The Estuary will include two, three and four-bedroom homes and aims to provide reasonably priced options for the workforce that is not dependent on government assistance programs. The Estuary will be located on a 50-acre tract within the Town’s Industrial Park.

CUMBERLAND COUNTY

Jan. 29, 2024: Booz Allen Hamilton held a ribbon cutting for new Joint Tech Acceleration Facility in Fayetteville. The Facility was developed to create and field operationally relevant capabilities for the U.S. military and its warfighters. The nearly 8,000-square-foot facility provides resources and connects other lab facilities within Booz Allen Hamilton, provides training opportunities and provides access to other capabilities that are being developed across the firm. July 23, 2024: The Fayetteville Cumberland Economic Development Corporation (FCEDC) announced that Project Aero has chosen Cumberland County for its aerospace-grade titanium mill. The company’s project in Fayetteville will establish a 500,000-square-foot facility and campus that is purpose-built to melt, roll and finish titanium, create over 300 jobs, with an average salary of $123,476 and have an investment of more than $867.8 million in buildings and equipment. 

Oct. 25, 2024: Construction officially began on the Crown Event Center. Cumberland County Board of Commissioners held a groundbreaking ceremony in the parking lot in front of the Judge E. Maurice Braswell Cumberland County Courthouse located at 117 Dick Street in Fayetteville. The new Crown Event Center will feature a three-story main event hall with the capacity to seat 3,000 guests, a VIP level with suites and a lounge and a rooftop terrace. The project kicked off in April 2022 with site selection and design, and the new Crown Event Center is expected to open in Spring 2027.

HARNETT COUNTY

June 7, 2024: The Harnett Economic Development Corporation received a $547,885 award from the Golden LEAF Foundation Board of Directors through their SITE Program - Development. This SITE Program funding supports various site preparation activities, including clearing, grubbing, grading and erosion control. Grant funding also allowed for the completion of a title opinion and utility capacity analysis for a 25- acre site in Edgerton Industrial Park. Harnett County expects that attracting industry to this site will generate around 80 new full-time jobs and $10 million in private capital investment. 

Sept. 17, 2024: Harnett County Government, in collaboration with the I-95/I-40 Crossroads of America Economic Development Alliance (Alliance), announced the acquisition of land for the County’s first Class A industrial park. The new development, Harnett 95 Industrial Center (Harnett 95), will be located in Dunn and span 60 acres. The project’s first phase will feature a 162,000-squarefoot speculative industrial building, with the Samet Corporation serving as the project developer. Once completed, this facility will be the first of six planned Class A industrial buildings at Harnett 95. Construction is set to begin in the first quarter of 2025. 

Nov. 19, 2024: Revels Turf & Tractor, one of John Deere’s largest global distributors, announced they have chosen Harnett County to relocate their operations to a new 30,090-square-foot facility at 5118 Rawls Church Road in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina. The new facility in Harnett County doubles the size of the previous location on US Highway 401 (North Main Street) in the Town of Fuquay-Varina. After two years of careful planning, the company opened its doors to the newly constructed operations center in late November. 

HOKE COUNTY

Feb. 29, 2024: Hoke County held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Hoke County Justice Center at 250 N. Main Street in Raeford. The project, headed by Silling Architects, features the design and construction of a new 51,000-square-foot courthouse and a 19,000-square-foot administration building. The new three-story courthouse will include five courtrooms serving the Superior and District Courts with their attendant holding cells and jury deliberation rooms. It will also host the Clerk of Courts, District Attorney, Public Defender, jury assembly at the lowest level and five judge’s chambers. The two-story administration building will include the county’s Tax Collector and Assessor, Human Resources, Finance and IT departments, as well
as administrative offices and a boardroom for the Commission.

MOORE COUNTY 

May 16, 2024: Officials of Autoport announced their intentions to create a haven for automotive enthusiasts in Moore County in the form of a first-of-its-kind driving resort. The resort will be located on Leech Road north of NC Highway 24-27 and south of Spies Road just a few miles east of the Montgomery County line and Interstate-73/74 in the area previously planned for the Heart of North Carolina Mega Park. In total, Autoport will invest over $100 million and create at least 32 full-time jobs and 100 part-time jobs, at an average salary of $48,000. Another 50 to 100 part-time employees will be used to staff events at the resort. 

Aug. 15, 2024: Reliance Packaging, LLC, a manufacturer of printed plastic packaging, announced it will invest more than $7.4 million to expand its operations and increase its capacity in the Town of Aberdeen. The company, which has been operating in Aberdeen since 2014, will add 32 new jobs in Moore County. This expansion includes building improvements and two additional multi-layer film extruders for the 180,000-square-foot manufacturing facility. The expansion is also expected to add new positions with an average annual wage of $53,000. These new jobs could potentially create an annual payroll impact of more than $1.6 million.

ROBESON COUNTY 

May 29, 2024: Lumbee River EMC (LREMC) and Robeson Community College (RCC) announced a partnership to introduce a Lineman Program in Robeson County. The initiative represents a collaborative effort between LREMC, a trusted provider of reliable electric service to communities throughout the region, and RCC, renowned for its commitment to workforce development and educational excellence. The Lineman Program offers comprehensive training and hands-on experience in the essential skills required for a successful career as a lineman and the program provides opportunities for real-world application through internships and cooperative learning experiences with Lumbee River EMC. 

Dec. 9, 2024: The Golden LEAF Foundation announced Robeson County as the recipient of a $1.5 million grant for clearing and grading, erosion control, adding backfill and creating an access road for a site in the COMtech Business Park as part of their SITE Program. 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.

SAMPSON COUNTY 

Oct. 22, 2024: Phinite, Inc., a leader in agricultural technology and sustainable fertilizer manufacturing, announced it will establish its next-generation manufacturing plant in Sampson County, creating 23 new jobs. The company will invest $5.5 million in Turkey, NC for a new facility that will occupy approximately 69,000 square-feet of the former Allen Canning Company and enhance Phinite’s capabilities in producing its biofertilizer. Phinite, Inc. was awarded a Building Reuse Grant in the amount of $180,000 that will support the upfit and repurposing of the building located in Sampson County.

---

Copyright © 2024 Enhanced Media Management Inc. dba Greater Fayetteville Business Journal
This story may be displayed, reformatted and printed for your personal, noncommercial use only and in accordance with our Terms of Service located at https://bizfayetteville.com/useragreement.