If new companies keep coming to Guilford County the way they have lately, and area companies keep expanding as they have, Guilford County government will have to do something to slow things down.
However, county leaders are still in the phase where they want to see more economic growth – so, Guilford County officials were happy this week to announce conditional plans for Phase Change Energy Solutions Inc. to expand its operations in the county.
The deal on the table is for Guilford County to give the company $40,565 of taxpayer money and, in return, the company will open a new facility on Winston Street in Greensboro with a projected investment of over $4.1 million and the creation of over 50 new jobs.
Phase Change Solutions, which is headquartered in Asheboro, attempts to “develop and manufacture smart and sustainable materials to decarbonize our footprint and enable human health.”
Phase Change Solutions describes its products as bringing “advancements in the transportation of perishables and pharmaceuticals, buildings and structures, telecom and data centers, to solve critical energy, environmental and social challenges.”
The company uses computer software to analyze the energy needs of its customers and designs solutions that lead to greater efficiency.
The Guilford County commissioners can’t legally give the money to the company unless the company’s decision is still up in the air, so, currently, Phase Change maintains that the site in Greensboro is under consideration “in addition to other options within the United States.”
On top of getting the incentives from Guilford County – which commissioners always approve these days – the company will also be requesting state and other local incentives.
In North Carolina, economic incentives grants of this nature by law must be preceded by public hearing and so, on May 4, the county provided notice that the Guilford County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing for the Phase Change incentives at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 18 in the Commissioners’ Meeting Room on the second floor of the Old Guilford County Court House in downtown Greensboro.
Your tax dollars at work, or another give away.
Pay off one company, in favor of all others who receive zip. Simple solution: lower the tax rate & red tape, make the County business-friendly, and then get out of the way.
If their company mission statement is any indication of “is that all they’ve got?” then of course Guilford County should give them more than $42k, since that’s we do. “Phase Change Solutions, which is headquartered in Asheboro, attempts to “develop and manufacture smart and sustainable materials to decarbonize our footprint and enable human health.” It has all the right buzz words and though sounds like total BS, is inclusive and sustainable enough to warrant at least a couple million dollar give away or else be deemed racist. Equity in 2023.
Excuse me, they didn’t mention “children, minority groups, LGBTQ+1, women, wanna be women, or furries” so they need to work on their target audience. Then they could ask for 10% tax money to move about 30 miles north so their carbon footprint was in Guilford County instead of messing up Randolph County’s numbers.
Yup. Feel good bs at the taxpayer’s expense. Feels really good to their cronies!