Statewide: Charlotte region, June 2014

Posted 06/16/2014

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STATEWIDE Charlotte Region

New lease on mill’s life

Transportation Insight LLC will spend $8 million to turn a former hosiery mill in downtown Hickory into its corporate headquarters. The company connects manufacturers, distributors and retailers with motor carriers and provides supply-chain consulting. The renovation of Lyerly Full Fashioned Mill, built in the 1930s, will include 70,000 square feet of offices, an employee cafeteria and indoor-outdoor exercise space. The company ranked 17th on last year’s ranking of the state’s top 100 private companies (“Laying It Online,” October 2013), in the $250 million to $499 million sales range. Started by Paul Thompson in 1999, Transportation Insight’s CEO is Chris Baltz, a former executive vice president of Fort Smith-based Arkansas Best Corp. Transportation Insight has more than 400 clients and employs 151 people in Hickory, plus 90 more across the United States including at offices in Charlotte, Atlanta and Bentonville, Ark. The space will accommodate more than 300 workers when completed in 2015.

Briefs

CHARLOTTE — Red Ventures will add 580 jobs and invest $2 million over five years at its Internet marketing and sales center here. The company, based 2 miles south in Indian Land, S.C., provides marketing, analytics and sales for companies including AT&T and DIRECTV. Average annual pay for the jobs will be about $48,000. Red Ventures is elgible to receive up to $3.2 million over 12 years from a state grant if job creation goals are met.

NEWTON — GKN Driveline will add 228 jobs to its existing 729 and invest more than $113.8 million by 2018 at its plant here. The automotive division of United Kingdom-based engineering company GKN makes components including all-wheel drive systems for BMW, Ford and General Motors. The company employs 1,530 people in North Carolina. Average annual wage for the jobs will be $39,986, about 10% higher than Catawba County’s average. GKN Driveline could receive up to $3 million over 12 years from the state if it meets performance and investment targets.

CHARLOTTE — Bank of America postponed a dividend increase and stock buyback because of an accounting error that overstated capital by $4 billion. The mistake, which was uncovered by bank employees, stems from the 2009 acquisition of New York-based Merrill Lynch. The bank has paid a 1 cent quarterly dividend since 2009.

WINGATE — Jerry McGee will retire next May as president of Wingate University. Enrollment at Wingate has nearly tripled during his 23-year tenure. The Rockingham native is North Carolina’s longest-serving university president. He also has officiated 404 college football games, including numerous championship and bowl games.

CHARLOTTE — Dixon Hughes Goodman named Matt Snow CEO. He was regional managing partner for the accounting firm’s Charlotte region. He replaces Ken Hughes, who will remain chairman. The largest accounting firm based in the Southeast, Dixon Hughes Goodman employs more than 1,800 people in 11 states, including 689 at nine North Carolina offices.

CHARLOTTE — BBVA Compass will open a commercial-loan production office here this summer. The Madrid-based bank, which acquired Compass Bancshares of Birmingham, Ala., in 2007 and now operates 685 branches in seven states, did not say how many people it plans to hire.

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