Beyond recruiting new companies such as Haakon Industries and Fox Factory, the Asheville-Buncombe County Economic Development Coalition supported workforce development and local startups during fiscal year 2018-19. The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners learned about the return on its $350,000 EDC investment at an Aug. 20 meeting.
Women make up over half of the local nonprofit’s construction staff and work in roles that provide new construction, home repair, volunteer coordination and construction administration. Each year, the Women Build Advocacy Team — aka WomBATs — recruits female volunteers and raises funds. This year’s Women Build House will come together on May 7.
“It’s time someone asked whether we get our money’s worth from these corporate handouts.”
Though breaking news about new Wanda Greene indictments made it hard for elected officials and members of the public to focus on anything else, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners approved $685,000 in incentives for a planned local investment by GE Aviation and announced two new early childhood education initiatives during its meeting on June 5.
The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners will hold two public hearings at its regular meeting on Tuesday, June 5.
With a bevy of companies relocating or expanding operations in Western North Carolina, economic boosters, educators and business representatives are working to prepare the next generation of workers to meet the growing need.
State, local and company officials met today, Nov. 14, to break ground on GE Aviation’s new 170,000-square-foot Asheville facility, being built next to an existing GE Aviation machining plant in South Asheville.
The Economic Development Coalition for Asheville-Buncombe County announced June 17 that GE Aviation is planning a major expansion of local operations, putting an end to months of speculation about a deal that had been known as “Project X.”
