Ground Broken on Center for Design Innovation

 

The ground was broken on the 4-acre parcel in the South District of the Piedmont Triad Research Park that was purchased for the Center in 2011 by the UNC system.  The parcel, which is south of Business-40 is nestled between Salem College and Winston-Salem State University.  It is hoped that in time the downtown area and the Piedmont Triad Research Park will seamlessly meld into the campuses of both schools.

According to the press release on The Center for Design Innovation's website, the 27,000 sq.-ft. facility is "specially equipped for rapid prototyping, motion capture, electronic textiles, mobile networking and more."  The new facility is estimated to cost $8 million and is scheduled to open in 2013.  It is a joint venture between Winston-Salem State University, the North Carolina School of the Arts, and Forsyth Tech.

Forsyth County Receives $700K Offer to Purchase Old Courthouse

The offer comes from Clachan Properties, LLC of Richmond, Virginia and is contingent upon provisions relating to historic certification, landmark designation, and multifamily zoning.  Much like the foreclosure process, there is a 10-day upset bid period.  Copies of the offer can be obtained from the Office of the Clerk to the Board of Commissioners.  A copy of Forsyth County's Notice of Offer to Purchase can be found here.

Forsyth County OKs Inmar Incentives; Baptist Economic Contribution Calculated at $3.8 Billion

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's economic impact on the area has been estimated at $3.8 billion/year in a study they commissioned.  The Center includes both Wake Forest Baptist Health (the Hosptial and affiliates) and Wake Forest University Health Sciences (research and teaching).  The $3.8 billion includes both their direct ($1.9 billion in revenue in 2011) and indirect impact - such as job creation from their support services and the jobs created by the money their employees spend.  In addition to their workforce of 13,588 full- and part-time employees (they are the largest employer in the county) the study estimated that the Medical Center created another 16,500.  A copy of the report can be found here.

In other news, Forsyth County approved the $1.05 million in incentives sought by Inmar Inc. as the company decides to invest $62 million and 212 high-paying jobs here or take that investment, those jobs, and the existing 761 jobs elsewhere.  The company complained about finding good talent in the area in their last expansion; the County vote approving the incentives was unanimous. 

Business Movements: Inmar and Tengion

Tengion, whose battered stock is currently trading under $1.00/share, registered a shelf offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday enabling it to sell up to $30 million dollars worth of  Common Stock, Preferred Stock, Debt Securities, Warrants, Rights, Units, or any combination thereof over the next couple years.

In even bigger news, Inmar Corp. is again looking to expand (they added 120 jobs in October of 2011).  This time they plan to sink $62.5 million dollars into corporate infrastructure - including $24 million on new equipment and $37.5 million in other capital investments - and create 212 jobs at an average salary in excess of $72K/year.  The scary part is Inmar is reportedly looking seriously considering moving their headquarters - meaning losing the 800 jobs already in the city - and is seeking $1.75 million from the city and $1.05 million from the County in performance-based incentives.  Although not a decision-maker with all available information, this would certainly seem like a no-brainer although the Winston-Salem  Journal notes that this is one of the largest requests by an existing Winston-Salem or Forsyth County business in the 22 years of the modern economic incentive era.   The Journal also notes that as an established NC business Inmar would only be eligible for state-level incentives if they were "seriously" considering moving their headquarters out of the state.  C'mon beleaguered Perdue - let's move 'em to downtown W-S!