Statewide: Triad region, June 2014

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STATEWIDE Triad Region

 

A revenue stream runs through it

 

Eden, the idyllically named city where the Dan and Smith rivers converge near the Virginia state line, has tried to replace lost textile jobs by rebranding itself as a destination for kayakers and other outdoor enthusiasts. That took a hit in February, when as much as 39,000 tons of coal ash flowed into the Dan from a broken stormwater pipe at Duke Energy Corp.’s retired Dan River Steam Station nearby (cover story, April 2014). Media outlets — and even Duke Energy — reported that the station was in Eden. Though the city limits abut the utility’s property, the spill site is 3½ miles downstream from where the city gets its drinking water. With the lucrative summer season for Rockingham County’s river outfitters underway, officials worry that business will suffer because of inaccurate reporting. They also want the Charlotte-based utility to help fix the publicity issues. “They did this,” says Mike Dougherty, the city’s director of economic development. By the way, the MillerCoors LLC brewery in Eden, which produces 9 million barrels of beer a year, is 2 miles north of the spill site and not on the river.

 

 

Briefs

WINSTON-SALEM — Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center laid off 350 of its 14,686 employees to reduce costs. It blamed increased expenses and reduced Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements. The hospital cut 950 positions in 2012.

MEBANE — Cambro Manufacturing Company will create 100 jobs and invest $30.4 million over three years to open a plant that will make shelving and other products for food-service companies. The Huntington Beach, Calif.-based company will pay an average annual wage of $44,200, about 23% higher than Alamance County’s average.

EDEN — Shri Govindaraja Textiles will invest more than $40 million and create 84 jobs over two years in a manufacturing plant here. A division of India-based Jayavilas Group, the company will spin yarn from North Carolina-grown cotton at a building previously owned by rug-maker Karastan, a division of Calhoun, Ga.-based Mohawk Industries. Jobs will pay an average of about $24,000, lower than Rockingham County’s $30,900.

WINSTON-SALEM — Reynolds American, parent of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., named Susan Cameron president and CEO in May. Cameron, who was chief executive and president from 2004 to 2011, succeeds Daniel Delen, CEO since 2011.

HIGH POINT — Ralph Lauren Corp. will open an 843,000-square-foot distribution center by September 2015. The number of new jobs wasn’t disclosed. The New York-based apparel and home-furnishings company is High Point’s largest employer with more than 2,300 workers.