Haywood extends token to Canton solar farm
FLS Solar Energy wants a tax break from Haywood County in exchange for an $8 million solar farm the company is building near Canton.
FLS is asking county commissioners for financial incentives that would allow the company to pay 20 percent of the taxes on the equipment it uses to operate for five years, saving FLS $6,400 a year or a total of $32,000.
Through the program, FLS would pay the total equipment tax up front, then receive a grant for 80 percent of the bill from the county.
The company’s request has received the endorsement of the Haywood County Economic Development Commission, though it’s not exactly in line with the intent of creating jobs. The solar farm will only create 12 jobs, most of them during the design, development and installation stages, said FLS president Michael Shore.
However, EDC officials believe the county will reap more benefits from the project than just job creation.
“This is kind of unusual because this really won’t create jobs, but you kind of have to look to the future,” said EDC director Mark Clasby. “This will bring recognition and awareness that Haywood County is interested in green initiatives.”
While the amount may not seem like much, it will make all the difference to FLS, Shore said. FLS will have to pay back money put up by investors — about half the total project cost — within a five-year period, making for very thin profit margins, said Shore. Financial incentives from the county will help the project make it through the lean time.
“This allows us for it to be a profitable project in the first five years,” Shore said. “Starting year six, the margins of the project improve significantly, so we’re happy to pay our fair share of taxes at that point.”
FLS has signed a 25-year contract with Progress Energy to sell solar power generated at the Haywood site, guaranteeing that the company will be shelling out full property taxes for at least a 20-year period.
“Over the lifetime of the project, we anticipate paying at least $180,000 in taxes,” said Shore.
Shore says that by providing tax breaks for FLS, Haywood County could position itself as a good place to locate a green startup.
“In the Southeast, it’s up for grabs where the leadership (in alternative energy) is going to come from,” he said. “Now, Haywood County has the opportunity to put itself on the map as a leader in this new green economy.”
Canton mayor looks to state for help with business venture
Canton Mayor Pat Smathers is determined to realize his dream of turning a historic house in downtown Canton into a hotel, restaurant and retail space— and he wants taxpayers to help fund it.
Smathers has sat on the 129-year-old building for 10 years, dabbling in its renovation here and there, waiting for the right people and opportunity. Finally, he has a plan in order, which includes a boutique hotel, “unique” restaurant run by a local couple, extended stay apartments and retail spaces. He hopes to pay for much of the project through two grants — one for $25,000 and one for $120,000 — from the North Carolina Rural Center. He’s also putting up $120,000 of his own money.
The grant pool, dubbed the Building Reuse and Restoration Program, is a pot of money dedicated to “spur economic and job activity and job creation by assisting in the productive reuse of vacant buildings in small towns.”
Smathers says he’s applying for the money because he needs capital; but also because he thinks his project fits the grant’s goal of spurring job creation. He says he can create 10 restaurant jobs, four hotel jobs and five retail jobs — assuming he can find shopkeepers willing to lease the retail spaces, which he hasn’t so far.
Smathers couldn’t apply for the money on his own, because it’s only awarded to local governments. He asked Haywood County commissioners to sign their name to the application, which they agreed to unanimously last week.
While most entrepreneurs seek loans from a bank, take out a second mortgage on their home or borrow from their nest egg to launch a business venture, Smathers isn’t sure whether he could get a loan from a bank for this project.
“Financial institutions aren’t doing much investment in small towns,” Smathers explained. “And if they’re not getting involved in the communities, then I do think it’s the role of government to sort of prime the pump.”
In this case, that means grants funded by state taxpayers. But Smathers said the project has more service industry jobs.
Downtown revitalization has been a major goal for the town of Canton, and Smathers hopes his project will spur other businesses to open in the area. Mark Clasby, the Haywood County Economic Development director, thinks Smathers’ project will do just that.
“I’m excited about this and I think it’s a great opportunity to help downtown Canton revitalize,” Clasby said.
Canton Alderman Troy Mann is a bit more hesitant in his optimism.
“If the project could ever be completed, it might help,” Mann said. “I think it could be an asset, but I’m not going to say it’s going to be as productive as some have said.”
It’s not that Mann doesn’t want the project to be a success — he does. It’s just that he’s seen too many businesses come and go downtown and questions Canton’s potential to chase a tourist-based economy.
“You don’t have enough of a population base to support some businesses, and that’s the reason the businesses don’t exist,” he said. “No matter what kind of business goes in there, if you don’t have the population, it doesn’t matter.”
Mann thinks there are steps Canton needs to take to lay the groundwork for a downtown revitalization, such as cleaning up the town to make it more attractive to families and establishing a chamber of commerce or merchants association.
In Clasby’s opinion, things like restaurants are a part of that groundwork, and that they help attract other businesses, like retail. He points to the success of downtown Waynesville as an example.
“You look at downtown Waynesville, and it used to be a disaster zone,” said Clasby. “Back in the early ‘90s, there was one restaurant or two. Then others came in, and now there’s a number of restaurants down there.”
Smathers may be taking a risk with his hotel, restaurant and retail project, but a stipulation of the Rural Center grant gives him extra motivation to succeed. If he can’t create the number of jobs he’s promised in two years, he’ll have to pay back the grant money to the Rural Center.
WCU forges ongoing relationship with Canton
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
With a new town board, a new town manager, and a growing influx of young Asheville commuters looking for affordable housing, the town of Canton is setting itself up for some major changes — and students from Western Carolina University want to help.
Canton gains ground as mill’s dominance recedes
Things are changing in Canton. That in itself is somewhat newsworthy.
With an influx of younger residents seeking small-town charm and affordable housing, Haywood’s mill town is poised for the beginning of a new chapter
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
When Wilbur Davis looked out his storefront in downtown Canton recently and saw three young moms pushing babies in strollers, he paused to watch. It’s not that women with babies are a particularly unusual sight in downtown Canton, but not too long ago it would have been.
A labor of love: Skipper Russell’s Cold Mountain Corn Maize raises support for cancer research
By Sarah Kucharski • Staff Writer
Bright yellow sunflowers ring the edges of Skipper Russell’s Cold Mountain Corn Maize in Canton, a memorial to his wife, Frances, who lost her battle with renal cell and thyroid cancer this February.
New owners cut 150 jobs at paper mill
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
A round of layoffs struck Evergreen Packaging (formerly Blue Ridge Paper) last week when officials cut the positions of 28 salaried employees outright and decided to eliminate 122 hourly positions through attrition.
Canton banks, businesses prepare for buyout infusion
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
The town of Canton will experience an infusion of dollars Oct. 12 when Blue Ridge Paper workers get their cash payouts from the company’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
State says mill discharge does not require public notification
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
A clean water advocacy group is questioning why an accidental discharge of a paper-making byproduct into the Pigeon River by the former Blue Ridge Paper mill hasn’t been the subject of more scrutiny.
Blue Ridge Paper Products changes name, moves headquarters
By Julia Merchant • Staff Writer
Blue Ridge Paper Products, long one of the largest employers in Western North Carolina, is no longer — at least in name.
An internal memo sent to employees Aug. 24 announced that the company’s name has officially been changed to Evergreen Packaging Group to reflect its new ownership by the New Zealand-based Rank Group.
