The Golden LEAF Foundation announced this week it was adding considerably to its investment in the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite and the first Toyota vehicle battery manufacturing plant in North America.
The Golden LEAF Board of Directors held a special meeting Monday, Dec. 6 and voted to award $40 million to the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) for public road infrastructure to support the manufacturing facility being built by Toyota Battery Manufacturing, North Carolina, which will result in the creation of over 1,750 new jobs and an initial investment by Toyota of over $1.29 billion.
In 2016, the Golden LEAF Foundation awarded $7 million for the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite to help provide the infrastructure needed to increase site competitiveness and reduce the time needed for site development.
Golden LEAF Board of Directors Chair Don Flow said, “We are proud to be part of the public infrastructure improvements that will enable significant job creation and capital investment. This announcement is a win for the entire state.”
The $40 million from the Golden LEAF Foundation will be in addition to the $135 million provided by the North Carolina Legislature to the NCDOT for road, highway interchange and other site improvements for the Toyota battery plant.
Golden LEAF Chief Executive Officer Scott Hamilton said, “Golden LEAF is dedicated to the long-term economic advancement of North Carolina. Golden LEAF is pleased to support such a transformative project for rural, economically distressed Randolph County, the surrounding region, and the state that will have a tremendous long-term economic impact. The Golden LEAF Board of Directors made this extraordinary award of $40 million to the North Carolina Department of Transportation to ensure that there would be sufficient road infrastructure to help support the creation of 1,750 new jobs.”
The Golden LEAF Foundation was created to receive 50 percent of the annual payments made by cigarette manufacturers to North Carolina under the 1999 Master Settlement Agreement that included 46 states. It is dedicated to making meaningful economic transformations across the state.
Why would Gold Leaf donate 40 Million AFTER Toyota has committed? Aren’t there other big potential developments the money could be better used?
Will the city eventually annex the area to which they are freely running water and sewer lines?
Thank you for your excellent reporting. I enjoy reading the Rhinotimes every day.
Toyota is a kanban, not a Scrum manufacturer and are going to need just-in-time suppliers to get them the production capacity they anticipate. Expect 4-5 other OEMs will want to be as close to the plant as possible for maximum logistical advantage, each needing water/sewer, roads and broadband and possibly additional land depending on the components being manufactured. Look around the BMW plant in Spartanburg and you’ll find over a dozen partners/OEMs within a 5 mile radius. The $40 million will probably go toward making the improvements to help Toyota recruit these partners and commit them to add even more jobs to the area. Consider where this money comes from, it’s as good a use for the funding as any except maybe a fund to help people quit tobacco forever. And yes, the city will eventually HAVE to annex the Mega area because all those local payroll and sales taxes need to be credited to Guilford so the commissioners have even more potential to skim. That’s how capitalism works.
There are quite a few local contractors who historically serve manufacturing businesses and employ many local workers. Hopefully they will benefit.
I thought that money was supposed to be used for healthcare after the govt fleeced the tobacco companies of $308 billion using “healthcare” as the reason. Not one cent has been used for that, if my memory is correct. It’s become a slushfund for politicians to buy votes. Wasn’t one use of the funds for the construction of the Randy Parton theater albatross?!