STATEWIDE Western Region
Wingate reinforces its western flank

EAST FLAT ROCK — Elkamet will add 20 jobs to its 54-worker plant here and invest more than $2.5 million over three years. The German manufacturer makes plastic parts for motorcycles and construction equipment, including fuel tanks. Jobs will pay an average of $36,400, slightly higher than Henderson County’s average of $33,824.
HUDSON — La-Z-Boy will discontinue production of wood furniture at its Kincaid Furniture plant here by Oct. 31. The Monroe, Mich.-based company will move warehouse and repair operations from two North Wilkesboro factories, which it plans to sell by year-end. About 100 workers will lose their jobs. La-Z-Boy’s wood furniture will be made in Asia.
SPRUCE PINE — Buck Stove will invest $1 million and add 30 to 50 jobs to its 95-employee manufacturing plant. The company makes wood- and gas-fired stoves and outdoor-living products. It recently partnered with artist Bob Timberlake and Greensboro-based Earthstone Products to make patio products from recycled materials.
SPINDALE — Alliance Precision Plastics will invest $1.3 million in equipment and machinery in its 30,000-square-foot plant here. The Rochester, N.Y.-based company performs custom injection-molding.
SPRUCE PINE — A federal judge sentenced Randy Alan Carpenter to 27 months in prison and ordered him to pay $507,995 to the Internal Revenue Service for charges connected to his role in Village of Penland, a failed real-estate development near here. Carpenter, 57, pleaded guilty to false statements on his tax returns. Five other defendants previously were sentenced in the scheme, which investigators say defrauded banks and investors of more than $82 million.