STATEWIDE Triad Region
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Piling on Project Haystack
Since nearly a fifth of it would be there, Guilford County leaders are pitching Project Haystack — a 2,000-acre megasite where they hope data centers and advanced manufacturers will locate — to local governments in Alamance County. The Greensboro planning department says the site could attract $6.5 billion of private investment, create as many as 5,300 jobs and bring in more than $39 million a year in local and state tax revenue. All of the land would have to be acquired except for Guilford County’s 760-acre prison farm. According to a proposal by the Greensboro office of Timmons Group, a Richmond, Va.-based engineering and site-development company, Greensboro would provide sewage service and Burlington would supply water to the site. Guilford County has committed $30,000 for initial costs, including drafting an agreement between the two counties and Greensboro, Burlington and Gibsonville to move forward with the project. Timmons project manager Mike Solomon says proximity to a Duke Energy substation and access to a major fiber-optic trunk-line makes the site prime for a data center.
THOMASVILLE — Heritage Home Group, which bought most of St. Louis-based Furniture Brands International’s assets out of bankruptcy in November, will close two Thomasville Furniture plants here this month. All 84 employees will lose their jobs. Heritage Home, also based in St. Louis, has about 3,000 workers in North Carolina, including those at factories in Hickory and Lenoir. Its brands include Broyhill, Lane and Drexel-Heritage.
GREENSBORO — Madison, N.J.-based Quest Diagnostics will buy Solstas Lab Partners from New York private-equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe for $570 million. Quest develops diagnostic tests for health-care providers. Solstas, a commercial laboratory company, employs 3,800 in nine states, including 1,755 in North Carolina. The sale is expected to close by July 1.
WINSTON-SALEM — Karen Barbara “Bobbi” Carbone was named chief operating officer and executive vice president of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. She had worked for government-owned Abu Dhabi Health Services in the United Arab Emirates since 2011.
GREENSBORO — Tim Rice will retire as Cone Health’s CEO Jan. 3. During his 36 years with the company, the former community hospital became a regional health network. He became president and chief executive in 2004.
EDEN — Morehead Memorial Hospital entered a shared-services agreement with Winston-Salem-based Novant Health. The partnership allows the 229-bed community hospital to reduce costs by using the health-care system’s purchasing power and other corporate resources.