Will Technimark expand in Asheboro? City, county make their play

ASHEBORO — Randolph County commissioners and the Asheboro City Council both approved an incentive package of nearly $1 million in a bid for Technimark to expand in Asheboro rather than another area.

The two boards met jointly on today at the City of Asheboro Public Works building on North Fayetteville Street. If the economic development project, with the code name Project Jetson, was to be awarded to Asheboro, Technimark would pledge to invest $62 million, with $54 million going toward machinery and equipment. 

The company is eyeing a local building to locate the new plant.

According to the project information, Technimark’s expansion would create 220 new jobs, in addition to its current 1,435 local workforce, with an average wage of $44,290 per year.

Kevin Franklin, president of the Randolph County Economic Development Corporation, presented the proposal, saying the Technimark project is also being bid on by at least two other locations. 

The incentives package voted on by the two boards would total $950,000, equally divided by Asheboro and Randolph County, to be paid out in five annual installments. 

Both boards unanimously approved the incentives.

The Asheboro City Council also voted to serve as the applicant for a $250,000 rail grant on behalf of Technimark in a possible agreement with the North Carolina Railroad to construct a spur line to the property under consideration. If approved, the grant money would flow through the city to Technimark.

During a public hearing on the project, Asheboro resident Jeff Marotto asked Franklin whether the current 1,435 Technimark jobs would remain if the company were to choose another location. Franklin said that, while it’s not anticipated the current jobs would leave, there’s no guarantee.

Franklin, in closing his initial remarks, said, “The EDC believes that the Technimark expansion project is an exceptional economic development project for the city and county, which would increase the value of the building, generate significant investment in new machinery and equipment, and result in the creation of 220 quality new jobs.”

Technimark was founded in Asheboro in 1983 as a small industrial molder and has grown to be one of the largest independent injection molders in the world. The company has seven manufacturing buildings in Asheboro and a number of warehouses totaling more than one million square feet. 

There are also plants in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Texas as well as four sites in Mexico, three in Europe and another in China. 

Asheboro continues to be the global headquarters.

Technimark is Randolph County’s largest private employer, the largest injection molder headquartered in the Southeastern US and a top 10 injection molder in North America.

Franklin said Technimark is considering the purchase of a building in Asheboro, contingent upon its choice of locating the expansion. He could not reveal the building under consideration.

The size of the incentive, Franklin said, is based on a percentage of the projected local tax revenues that would be generated by the expansion.