Incentive package offered to Energizer

ASHEBORO — Energizer, which has been making batteries in Asheboro since 1948, could be investing $43 million to expand its local operations. 

In a special joint meeting of the Randolph County Board of Commissioners and the Asheboro City Council, both bodies approved incentive payments totaling up to $420,000 — 50 percent from the city and 50 percent from the county — to be paid to or on behalf of the company over a five-year period.

In return for the economic development incentive payments, the company must create a total of 178 new full-time jobs and invest $43 million in machinery and equipment at company facilities in the city and county.

Energizer currently employs 411 full-time workers and 455 contract workers. 

Energizer is contemplating an expansion of its operations in Asheboro, according to a release by the Randolph County Economic Development Corporation (EDC).

During Monday’s public hearing concerning the incentives, EDC President Kevin Franklin said, “The EDC believes that the Energizer project is an exceptional economic development project for the city and county which would generate significant investment in new machinery and equipment … . Therefore, the EDC requests that the city and county approve the resolution offering local incentives to encourage Energizer leadership to grow its production in Asheboro.”

Average annual pay for the 178 new jobs would be $54,000, compared to Randolph County’s current private sector average wage of $43,080. Franklin said the proposed incentive package is equivalent to 50 percent of the anticipated new tax revenue generated by the new investment over a five-year period. 

He added that Energizer is also eligible for a One NC grant through the NC Department of Commerce. Such a grant would require a local match, which the proposed incentive is more than sufficient to cover.

Energizer has production plants at 800 Albemarle Road and 419 Art Bryan Drive, both in Asheboro. Manufacturing of batteries began here in 1948 under the name Union Carbide, making Eveready batteries. In 1980, the Energizer brand was introduced, followed by the Energizer Bunny in 1989.