Cumberland County Commissioners approve economic development incentives for potential drone manufacturing facility

By Staff Report, posted Jul 22, 2026 on BizFayetteville.com

Leadership with the Fayetteville Cumberland Economic Development Corp. are working to keep Cumberland County competitive in efforts to bring a new manufacturing facility to the area.

On Monday, July 20 at their regular meeting, County Commissioners were approached to approve economic development incentives proposed by FCEDC President & CEO Robert Van Geons for Project Odesa.

Project Odesa is the U.S. arm of a Ukrainian drone manufacturing company considering Cumberland County to relocate its US headquarters and establish their first US production facility.

The project could potentially bring 162 jobs to the area paying an average wage of $70,759 per year and add more than $11.4 million of payroll to the local economy.

The project is also expected to lead to a $3.4 million investment in real and personal property by 2030, and generate $144,889 in new tax revenue over 10 years.

A report prepared by the NCSE Economic Partnership projects that the direct, indirect

and induced economic impacts of this project would create an additional 28 jobs and generate

more than $68 million of economic output in Cumberland County

Currently, developers are looking at 223 Dedication Drive in Fayetteville, a 28,479 square-foot building -formally a Black & Decker facility- already zoned for Heavy Industrial use.

The company is also considering locations in Nevada and Oklahoma for this project. To maintain a competitive edge, Van Geons approached the County with the following proposal:

Consider approving a local job creation incentive grant of $750 per job created, for a total grant value of $121,500.
The proposed incentive grant would be paid on a pro-rata basis, after job creation is documented, in three installments.
Authorize Staff to develop an Incentive Agreement codifying the above as well as including appropriate “claw back” provisions should the company not maintain compliance.

The state of North Carolina is considering the project for discretionary grants and workforce development funds, but require a local match. The City of Fayetteville approved a similar incentive on June 8, 2026.

Van Geons confirmed with Commissioners that the facility would be looking to hire local residents if they came to the area.

“It is our community, our workforce and our community college that were the selling factors on getting us to the top of their consideration list. So not only would they be based here, we believe that we can hire the overwhelming majority through training and pre-training programs at the community college or those transitioning out of Fort Bragg,” shared Van Geons.

Following a public hearing with no additional comments, the Board unanimously approved the proposed economic development incentives for the project. With both incentives approved, the company will receive a total grant of $243,000.

The full meeting can be found on YouTube here.

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