STATEWIDE Western Region
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MORGANTON — Heritage Home Group will close its Drexel Heritage plant here by July 31, idling all 87 workers. It’s the St. Louis-based furniture company’s fourth planned factory closing in North Carolina this year. It previously announced it will close two plants in Thomasville and one in High Point, eliminating 170 jobs.
ASHEVILLE — New Belgium Brewing broke ground on its 133,000-square-foot brewery here May 1. Scheduled to begin last year, construction was postponed when the company added capacity to the brewery at its Fort Collins, Colo., headquarters and is expected to be done by the end of 2015. The $175 million project, which includes a 100,000-square-foot distribution center in Enka, will employ 140.
ASHEVILLE — Moogfest 2014 lost more than $1.5 million during its five-day run in April. Expenses totaled $2.7 million, including more than $1.5 million for artists. Asheville-based Moog Music expanded the event this year from three days, (NCtrend, June), adding technology and arts to the musical acts. The maker of electronic instruments had forecast the local economic impact at $30 million, but the Asheville-Buncombe County Economic Development Coalition hasn’t calculated the amount.
ASHEVILLE — The Western North Carolina Alliance will merge with Hendersonville-based Environmental & Conservation Organization and Highlands-based Jackson-Macon Conservation Alliance to consolidate fundraising and advocacy for environmental protection. The new nonprofit will represent 23 counties in the region. The merger will be completed later this year.