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A summary of significant recent developments in these industries follows.
<br />Manufacturing, The principal products manufactured in the County now include optical fiber,
<br />textiles, food, cigarettes, printing and publishing, concrete products, lumber and wood, specialized
<br />coloring, fabricated metal and machinery products, mobile and modular home components, and
<br />corrugated packaging.
<br />Castle & Cooke is currently redeveloping the former Pillowtex properties in Kannapolis as a
<br />mixed use development with the centerpiece of the development constituting the North Carolina
<br />Research Campus (the "Research Campus'. This is amulti-purpose campus expected to house state-
<br />of-the-art research equipment, research space and laboratory space and expected to lease or sell space
<br />to biotechnology companies. The Research Campus is intended to be a collaboration between public
<br />and private sectors. Public sector partners already include Appalachian State University, The University
<br />of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at
<br />Charlotte, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina A&T University, and Rowan-
<br />Cabarrus Community College.. The private sector partners already announced include the Dole Nutrition
<br />Institute, Angiogen, Anatomics, Bio-Marker group, Duke University, and RedHat. Carolinas Medical
<br />Center -Northeast (the County's largest employer) may also have a presence in the Research Campus.
<br />To facilitate the development and finance public improvements needed, the City of Kannapolis
<br />created the North Carolina Research Campus Financing District (the `Development District', pursuant to
<br />the State's project development financing act authorized in 2005. This district is comprised of
<br />approximately 863 acres within the County and Rowan County. The Development District was created to
<br />finance infrastructure within and around the Development District to support the Research Campus. The
<br />City of Kannapolis planned to issue up to $168 million in bonds in the fall of 2008 to finance public
<br />infrastructure in the district. However, the global recession prevented the issue of those bonds and makes
<br />issuance in the foreseeable future unlikely. The boundaries of the Development District were created to
<br />capture the area in which such infrastructure is needed. The Research Campus is approximately 240
<br />acres within the Development District. The development plan for the Development District contemplates
<br />that, when completed, the Research Campus will include more than two million square feet of office and
<br />laboratory space, 600,000 square feet of new retail and commercial space, 400,000 square feet of
<br />academic and civic space and approximately 1,100 new residential units.
<br />Other manufacturing facilities produce a wide variety of goods for national and international
<br />distribution. The following are just a few examples of these industries. Corning, Inc.'s fiber optics facility
<br />in Midland, which had been "mothballed," has reopened and officials expect the facility to increase
<br />capacity as the fiber optic market improves globally. S&D Coffee is a major roaster and distributor of
<br />coffee products for institutional and restaurant use and is headquartered in Concord. The International
<br />Business Park includes a number of manufacturers, the most recent of which is PreGel USA, a producer
<br />of gelato products that has already announced a major expansion.
<br />Philip Morris USA, which was the largest manufacturer in the County, closed its Concord facility in
<br />July, 2009. The facility encompasses over 2100 acres and 1.2 million square feet. Philip Morris has hired
<br />Jones Lang LaSalle to market the property. The County, the City of Concord and the Cabarrus Economic
<br />Development Corporation have partnered with Philip Morris USA and Jones Lang LaSalle to promote the
<br />site as a job creation center.
<br />Warehousing and Distribution. The distribution, warehousing, and shipping industry is another
<br />growing sector of the County's economy, as the County continues to be acost-effective alternative for
<br />Charlotte area distributors. This industry benefits from the County's proximity to the City of Charlotte (a
<br />regional trucking and manufacturing center with a major commercial international airport) and from access
<br />to I-85, which has seven existing interchanges in the County. One of the newest interchanges on the
<br />Charlotte Outer belt, I-485, opened in 2004, provide almost direct access to the County in a number of
<br />areas. Construction is scheduled to begin on the remaining northeast section of 1-485 in 2009, further
<br />increasing accessibility to the County. In addition, I-77 interchanges with I-85 and three other major
<br />highways within 15 miles of the County. Examples of companies building or expanding distribution
<br />centers include: Saddle Creek, a large Florida logistics company, which opened a 350,000 square foot
<br />rail served distribution center in Harrisburg (from which it serves Wal-Mart, America's largest retailer); and
<br />has recently completed an expansion that more than doubled the size of the Harrisburg facility; and
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