Huge Grant Helps With Economic Development

The town of Clayton has been awarded a $700,000 Community Development Block Grant by the NC Department of Commerce to help with the infrastructure costs associated with luring commercial baker Northeast Foods to build a new state-of-the-art operation here.

The money will be used to help build an industrial access road to the building site in East Clayton and run water and sewer lines.

"We commend the town for its economic development efforts and look forward to working with you on the implementation of the project," said Commerce Deputy Secretary Dale Carroll in a letter to Mayor Jody McLeod.

Town officials, who have already committed $233,333 in local funds to the project, are also expecting help from the NC Dept. of Transportation (DOT).

The work is part of the infrastructure needed for the $25.4 million commercial bakery that's expected to bring 84 high-paying jobs to the area.

In a related development, the Town Council is considering a request from the company for permission build its new complex taller than regulations usually allow. The design has already gotten the recommendation of the town Planning Board.

A similar request from drug-maker Talecris Biotherapeutics, who was convinced to locate a new $269 million expansion here a few months ago, was approved earlier this year.

Jobs at the new baking complex, to be known as Automatic Rolls of North Carolina, are expected to average nearly $42,000 a year in salary, which is much more than the Johnston County average of $31,408. Construction is expected to begin soon.

Northeast Foods bakes hamburger buns for McDonalds. The new 80,000-sq.ft facility, which should be operational in about a year, will serve two Golden State Foods distribution centers, one in nearby Garner and another in Lexington, SC. The company is the largest supplier of buns for McDonald's in the United States.

BusinessWeek magazine's recent ranking of Clayton in the top 10 of the best towns in the nation for affordability and quality of schools made the town attractive, company officials said, along with the nearby Interstate highways.

The commercial baker is just the town's latest economic development success. In addition to the huge Talecris expansion, town officials last year lured multi-national bakery equipment manufacturer Turkington to relocate its North American operations to Clayton and equipment-maker Caterpillar to build a new Product Development Center here.