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An aerial view of HanesBrands corporate headquarters on Hanes Mill Road.
An aerial view of Baity Street (center), Deacon Boulevard (right) and Allegacy Field. Wake Forest is looking to reviving a mixed-use development plan for the area. A number of buildings have been demolished in the area and are ready for development.
There were waves of promising economic-development projects announced in the Triad in 2023 with thousands of production jobs and billions of capital investments pledged by new or expanding businesses.
However, dimming the overall economic brightness were mass layoffs involving thousands of jobs, not only in the manufacturing sector, but also trucking and healthcare.
As has been the case in recent years, the Journal’s top-10 business-story rankings include completed projects and potential ones. We again put more emphasis on results than on possibilities.
There were the shadows cast over corporations facing potential divestiture decisions, whether in the make-or-break category involving HanesBrands Inc. and 22nd Century Group Inc., or evaluating their latest evolutionary steps in Krispy Kreme Inc. and Truist Financial Corp.
There was even a manufacturing presence in another high-profile legal story of the Dec. 16 closing of the Winston Cup Museum.
The healthcare sector was represented with the Atrium Health-Cone Health dispute over the necessity of a second Greensboro hospital.
There’s also state Treasurer Dale Folwell’s well-publicized campaign on pressuring hospitals in the Triad and statewide to justify their revenue streams, pricing transparency, executive compensation and bill-collection practices compared with their community benefit efforts.
The Toyota battery manufacturing plant under construction in Liberty on Oct. 31.
Forsyth County and the Triad extended during 2023 a three-year wave of landing high-profile advanced manufacturing projects.
The foremost announcement was a second expansion of the Toyota Battery Manufacturing N.C. plant in Liberty to 2,100 to 5,100 jobs, and from $5.9 billion to almost $14 billion in capital investment.
That’s even though the first electric vehicle battery production remains more than 1½ years away.
Toyota Motor Co.’s commitment to the plant — by far the biggest single capital investment in North Carolina history — will challenge the training and mobility of the Triad’s manufacturing workforce as never before.
The plant will test how far Triad residents are willing to commute for starting hourly pay of $18 for logistics employees, $23 for production and quality employees, and a range of $20.30 to $41.50 for maintenance and facilities employees.
As invigorating as having 5,100 Toyota jobs sounds, economists say there are likely to be an additional hundreds, if not thousands, of supplier jobs linked to the plant, if not on the megasite campus.
The first of those was announced in November with Toyota Tsusho America pledging to make a $7 million capital investment and create 41 jobs for an offsite warehouse.
Pledges made during 2023 include:
“We put our energies into attracting companies who see the value in our talented workforce in the region,” said Brent Christensen, president and chief executive of the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce.
“All in all, the ledger for our region is overwhelmingly positive and our economic-development pipeline remains robust, and we’re not taking our foot off the gas in any way,” Christensen said.
Klaussner Home Furnishings
Unfortunately for the Triad economy, there also were several high-profile mass layoffs representing — in real time — thousands of jobs.
Foremost was the abrupt collapse in August of Asheboro-based home furnishings manufacturer, which let go of 893 employees following an inability to access additional funding from its lender. Klaussner, based in Asheboro, had been in business since 1963.
The national shutdown of Yellow Corp. in August included the shutting of its Kernersville operations that affected 146 employees. A potential silver lining to the Yellow closing is XPO Inc. acquiring the terminal with plans to re-open in 2024 or by early 2025.
Other prominent mass layoffs announcements include: at least 250 by HanesBrands Inc. in Forsyth County; 250 Tyson Foods Inc. in Wilkesboro; at least 210 systemwide by Novant Health Inc.; at least 206 by Collins Aerospace in Winston-Salem; 123 by Precor Manufacturing Inc. in Whitsett; and 78 by Dairy Brands Fluid LLC in Winston-Salem.
Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi, an economics professor at Winston-Salem State University, said that “what we are seeing (with the manufacturing closings) is an unfortunate side effect of tighter credit standards emanating from the raising of interest rate targets by the Federal Reserve to fight inflation.”
“High levels of consumer debt will reduce purchases of goods that can be delayed, such as furniture, as we slide into a probable recession toward the end of this year and continuing into early next year.
“The entire furniture manufacturing sector is seeing these effects, and it is especially problematic for companies with high levels of existing debt.”
HanesBrands will enter 2024 facing a potential make-or-break financial and cultural decision in whether to sell off its iconic Champion apparel brand.
Inflationary and investor pressures are pushing — if not forcing — HanesBrands to divest and return nearly back to square one of its September 2006 spinoff from Sara Lee Corp.
Although keeping the brand remains an option, companies that announce plans to explore strategic options typically complete a sale more often than not.
HanesBrands’ board of directors and executive management team have disclosed they are considering such a drastic move as part of “a broad range of alternatives to maximize shareholder value.”
Champion represented nearly a third of its $6.2 billion in fiscal 2022 sales.
The Champion announcement in September came about six weeks after investor Barington Capital Group challenged HanesBrands’ board to take steps to reduce corporate debt and reverse a steep share-price decline over the past 2½ years.
That includes calling for a major board shakeup and the ouster of chief executive Steve Bratspies.
The manufacturer has dropped from 4,900 local employees at spin-off to fewer than 2,000 now. It confirmed in August eliminating at least 250 U.S. corporate jobs, sending the work to international operations.
A legal dispute over who owns a collection of Winston Cup and NASCAR memorabilia led to the Dec. 16 closing of the Winston Cup Museum.
A multiyear legal dispute over who owns a collection of Winston Cup and NASCAR memorabilia led to the Dec. 16 closing of the Winston Cup Museum after nearly 20 years.
Since June 2015, Greensboro tobacco manufacturer ITG Brands LLC has controlled the Winston traditional cigarette brand as part of U.K.-based parent company Imperial Brands Plc’s $7.1 billion purchase of the Winston, Salem, Kool and Maverick brands from Reynolds American Inc. and Lorillard Inc.
ITG has wanted the N.C. Business Court to rule that its control over the Winston traditional cigarette brand also covers the Winston Cup items at the museum.
Meanwhile, Will Spencer has said the Winston logo at the heart of the trademark issue was developed by him.
On Nov. 2, an N.C. Business Court judge approved the final settlement and mediated agreement. The bulk of the memorabilia will be auctioned from Jan. 2-14 at Mecum Auto Auctions in Kissimmee, Fla.
Will Spencer said that “we do believe there is a positive side to every situation, and one major positive for us is that the agreement makes clear that the overwhelming majority of the assets” of the museum belong to the Spencers.
The 73 Business Center on Greenbourne Drive in Greensboro is pictured. ProKidney Corp., a Winston-Salem company focused on development of treatments for chronic kidney disease, plans a manufacturing center in the industrial park.
The promises and the challenges facing ProKidney came to the forefront during 2023. It is a late clinical-stage cellular therapeutics company focused on chronic kidney disease
ProKidney confirmed June 14 plans to establish a biomanufacturing plant by 2027 with up to 330 jobs — more than quadrupling its current workforce of 80 — and staged investments of up to $458 million in Greensboro.
On Sept. 8, ProKidney confirmed it will expand its Winston-Salem laboratory, manufacturing and office operations by making a $21 million capital investment and creating 50 jobs by 2027.
Yet, ProKidney confirmed Nov. 14 it was pausing manufacturing until the first half of 2024 to address an audit of its quality management system. The decision was made following an outside audit that evaluated its readiness for release and distribution of REACT to clinical sites in the European Union.
Also on Nov. 14, ProKidney changed its top executive from a company founder (Tim Bertram) to an official (Dr. Bruce Culleton) who has been with the Winston-Salem company for less than four months.
Meanwhile, a major individual investor — Chamath Palihapitiya — has sold off nearly 82% of his 16.27 million Class A shares over the past six months.
Cone Health has appealed state health regulatory approval of the $246 million community hospital at 2909 Horse Pen Creek Road.
A conflict over a proposed 36-bed Greensboro hospital by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist is spilling into 2024 for a final regulatory resolution.
Cone Health has appealed state health regulatory approval of the $246 million community hospital at 2909 Horse Pen Creek Road. Cone, which operates the only Greensboro hospital, vigorously opposes the Baptist application.
The N.C. Office of Administrative Hearings has said a final decision is due 270 days after the filing of Cone’s appeal on Aug. 24, “depending on whether continuances or extensions are given by the administrative law judge.”
The proposed hospital is 2.1 miles from a Cone facility that opened in May 2022 — a 160,000-square-foot MedCenter Greensboro facility at 3518 Drawbridge Parkway. The $97 million Cone facility includes an emergency department, ambulatory care center, imaging, physical therapy, cardiology, wellness programs and 13 overall services.
Baptist has projected construction commencing by December 2024 with a goal of opening by July 2026. It would have at least 152 full-time equivalent employees at full capacity.
“Approval of Greensboro Medical Center will enable Greensboro to match the other top five North Carolina cities in hosting multiple hospital systems and having local hospital competition, which will be a benefit to local residents,” according to the Atrium application.
N.C. State Treasurer Dale Folwell speaks with constituents during the Forsyth County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, at Legacy Stables and Events in Winston-Salem.
State treasurer Dale Folwell has spent much of his second term in office prioritizing what he considers as the negative financial impact of healthcare systems in North Carolina toward patients and consumers.
In particular, Folwell has attempted to raise the profile of medical debt facing North Carolinians in a series of commissioned research reports.
Folwell also continues to prod the N.C. House to address and advance Senate Bill 321, titled “Medical Debt De-weaponization Act.”
Folwell, who is running for the 2024 Republican nomination for governor, said his primary interest is from his oversight authority of the State Health Plan.
The plan covers more than 727,000 participants that include current and retired state employees, teachers and legislators. It is North Carolina’s largest purchaser of medical and pharmaceutical services.
“There are individuals who are afraid to get the medical attention they need when they need it because of what could happen to them from a medical billing standpoint,” Folwell said.
“Families can’t see themselves past their poverty because of medical debt. That’s not a political issue. That’s a moral issue. Lawmakers have the chance to change the lives of thousands of North Carolinians.”
The N.C. Healthcare Association typically has responded to Folwell-sponsored healthcare system reports by citing primarily patient billing policies and procedures.
Seizing business opportunities as they appear has proven to be a key ingredient in Hispanic foods distributor Purple Crow’s major growth spurt during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Purple Crow primarily serves Hispanic food vendors, typically small businesses, in the Carolinas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maryland and Virginia.
The company said the brand “remains distinctive among the competition for providing deeply authentic Mexican products.”
According to Dan Calhoun, the chief executive and president, business has nearly quadrupled in revenue since 2019.
That level of success has inspired Purple Crow’s executive and private investors to take on its biggest venture yet — spending $11 million to purchase the 850,000-square-foot building at Whitaker Park that once served as the front door of the former R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. plant.
Purple Crow plans to add up to 274 jobs at an average annual wage of $72,000 as well as spend $50 million in renovating the Whitaker Park building. The facility is projected to be operational by end of 2024.
Wake Forest University said in August it is reviving — after a 13-year shelving — a mixed-use development proposal around its athletic facilities on Deacon Boulevard.
Wake Forest has hired Carter of Atlanta and Front Street Capital of Winston-Salem to explore redeveloping the area, which is owned by the university.
The property is bordered by Deacon Boulevard, University Parkway, the Winston-Salem Fairgrounds and Allegacy Stadium, and includes Couch Ballpark and Joel Coliseum.
Under consideration are retail stores, restaurants, other services and residential uses. The university did not say how long the project might take or how much it will cost.
Wake Forest owns 178 acres of property east of the Reynolda campus that includes the facilities currently occupied by faculty and staff, and the athletics facilities.
At least 67 acres at the proposed site are ready to go from a development standpoint since the university had several buildings in the area demolished during the first mixed-use attempt in 2009-10.
22nd Century has its cigarette-manufacturing operations in a 62,000-square-foot plant in Mocksville.
The future of 22nd Century Group Inc. and its very-low-nicotine traditional cigarette concept could go up in smoke as early as February.
The manufacturer issued Nov. 30 a regulatory warning to investors and regulators that it may have only enough money to operate through Jan. 31.
22nd Century, based in Buffalo, has its cigarette-manufacturing operations in a 62,000-square-foot plant in Mocksville where the bulk of its workforce is employed. That workforce approached 50 at its peak, but has since been reduced through cost-cutting initiatives.
As of Nov. 24, 22nd Century has $3.3 million in cash and cash equivalent, compared with $10.4 million on Sept. 30.
22nd Century also announced Nov. 30 the hiring of Lawrence Firestone, effective Tuesday, as its sixth full-time or interim chief executive since July 2019, as well as taking over as chairman.
On Nov. 27, 22nd Century disclosed it is exiting the hemp/cannabis sector after less than 1½ years at a steep financial cost. It is preparing to sell for $2.25 million the assets it paid between $55 million and $60 million for in May 2022.
In September, 22nd Century announced its board was “evaluating strategic alternatives” for its very-low-nicotine products that at least two analysts say could be a foreshadowing of a federal bankruptcy filing.
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The Toyota battery manufacturing plant under construction in Liberty on Oct. 31.
Klaussner Home Furnishings
An aerial view of HanesBrands corporate headquarters on Hanes Mill Road.
A legal dispute over who owns a collection of Winston Cup and NASCAR memorabilia led to the Dec. 16 closing of the Winston Cup Museum.
The 73 Business Center on Greenbourne Drive in Greensboro is pictured. ProKidney Corp., a Winston-Salem company focused on development of treatments for chronic kidney disease, plans a manufacturing center in the industrial park.
Cone Health has appealed state health regulatory approval of the $246 million community hospital at 2909 Horse Pen Creek Road.
N.C. State Treasurer Dale Folwell speaks with constituents during the Forsyth County Republican Party’s Lincoln Day Dinner on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023, at Legacy Stables and Events in Winston-Salem.
An aerial view of Baity Street (center), Deacon Boulevard (right) and Allegacy Field. Wake Forest is looking to reviving a mixed-use development plan for the area. A number of buildings have been demolished in the area and are ready for development.
22nd Century has its cigarette-manufacturing operations in a 62,000-square-foot plant in Mocksville.
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